UC-NI 


310    514 


£2c 


v/.    I 


A  MILITARY  GENIUS. 


LIFE  OF  AM  A  ELLA  CARROLL, 

OF   MARYLAND, 

("  The  great  unrecognized  member  of  Lincoln's  Cabinet.") 

COMPILED   FROM  FAMILY    RECORDS    AND  CONGRESSIONAL, 
DOCUMENTS 


BY 


SARAH  ELLEN  BLACKWELL. 


For  Sale  at  the  Office  of  die  IVdhld*'*  Journal,  ^  Faik  Stieet,  Boston,  Mass. 
Rooms  of  the  Woman's  Suffrage  Society,  1406  G  St.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

PRICE  :  fr.io  (Forwarded  free  on  receipt  of  price). 


WASHINGTON,   D.  C.  : 

JUDD  &  DF/rVVEjIIvER,  PRINTERS. 

1891. 


Entered  in  the  office  of  the  librarian  of  Congress,  1891. 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED. 


The  long  years  come  and  go, 

And  the  Past, 

The  sorrowful  splendid  Past, 
With  its  glory  and  its  woe, 
Seems  never  to  have  been. 

Seems  never  to  have  been  ! 
O  somber  days  and  grand, 
Plow  ye  crowd  back  once  more, 
Seeing  our  heroes  graves  are  green 
By  the  Potomac,  and  the  Cumberland 
And  in  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah  ! 

When  we  remember  how  they  died, 

In  dark  ravine  and  on  the  mountain  side, 

In  leaguered  fort  .and  fire-encircled  town, 

And  where  the  iron  ships  went  down. 

How  their  dear  lives  were  spent 

In  the  weary  hospital  tent, 

In  the  cockpit's  crowded  hive, 

it  seems 

Ignoble  to  be  alive  ! 

THOMAS  BAILEY  AIRBRICK. 


M115393 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Ancestry  and  Old  Plantation  Life I 

CHAPTER  II. 

Childhood  and  Early  Life— Miss  Carroll's  Youthful  Let 
ters  to  Her  Father — Religious  Tendencies — Letters 
from  Dr.  Robert  J.  Breckenridge— Sale  of  Kingston 
Hall— Early  Writings— Letter  of  Hon.  Edward 
Bates — Breaking  Out  of  the  Civil  War — Preoccupa 
tion  in  Military  Affairs  .  .  .  .  .  .  14 

CHAPTER  III. 

Rise  of  the  Secession  Movement — The  Capital  in  Danger — 
Miss  Carroll's  Literary  Labors  for  the  Cause  of  the 
Union — Testimonials  from  Eminent  Men  .  .  31 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Military  Situation— Goes  to  St.  Louis— Inception  of 
the  Plan  of  the  Tennessee  Campaign — Gives  in  The 
Plan  at  the  War  Department— President  Lincoln's 
Delight  at  the  Solution  of  the  Problem — Account 
Written  in  1889— Judge  Wade  at  Bull  Run— Forma 
tion  of  the  Committee  for  the  Conduct  of  the  War  .  59 

(v) 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Miss  Carroll's  Papers  to  the  War  Department — Plan  of 
Campaign — Letters  from  Scott,  Wade,  and  Others — 
Discussions — Papers  as  the  Campaign  Progresses  .  Si 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Congressional  Revelations—  Great  Results— Discussions — 
Miss  Carroll  Presents  Her  Claim — Political  Opposi 
tion — Letters  and  Testimony  .  .  .  .  .105 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Miss  Carroll's  Pamphlets  in  Aid  of  the  Administration — 

The  Presentation  of  the  Bill 124 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Miss  Carroll  Before  Congress      .         .         .         .         .         .       132 

CHAPTER  IX. 

A  Wounded  Veteran  Retires  from  the  Field — Interview 
with  Grant — The  Women  of  America  make  the  Cause 
Their  Own — A  National  Lesson  ....  150 


PREFACE. 

In  commencing  the  attempt  to  portray  a  very  remarkable 
career  I  had  hoped  for  the  cooperation  of  the  person  con 
cerned  so  far,  at  least,  as  the  supervision  of  any  statements 
I  might  find  it  necessary  to  make.  But  it  was  decided  by 
her  friends  that  it  would  not  be  well  for  her  at  present  to 
be  troubled  with  new  projects,  or  even  informed  of  them. 
It  was  at  first  a  serious  disappointment  to  me  and  seemed 
to  increase  my  difficulties,  but  as  I  was  allowed  access  to 
sources  of  family  information  I  have  been  enabled  to  pre 
sent  a  sketch,  slight  and  inadequate,  but  authentic,  and 
greatly  desired  by  many  distant  friends.  With  continued 
improvement  in  health  I  trust  that  the  wishes  of  Miss  Car 
roll's  friends  may  be  better  met  by  an  autobiography  tak 
ing  the  place  of  the  present  meager  and  imperfect  sketch. 

It  should  be  at  once  understood  that  this  is  not  a  plea  for 
Miss  Carroll. 

Her  work  has  but  to  be  fairly  presented  to  speak  for  itself. 

Her  claim  was  settled  once  and  forever  by  the  evidence 
given  before  the  first  Military  Committee  of  1871,  met  to 
consider  the  claim,  and  reporting,  through  Senator  How 
ard,  unanimously  endorsing  every  fact.  The  Assistant  Sec- 

(VII) 


VIII  PREFACE. 

retary  of  War,  Thomas  A.  Scott,  the  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  for  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  Benjamin  F.  Wade, 
and  Judge  Evans,  of  Texas,  testifying  in  a  manner  that 
was  conclusive.  These  men  knew  what  they  were  talking 
about  and  human  testimony  could  no  farther  go.  Congress, 
through  its  committees,  has  again  and  again  endorsed  the 
claim,  and  never  denied  it,  being  "adverse"  only  to  award 
as  involving  national  recognition. 

Our  great  generals  have  left  us  one  by  one  without  ever 
antagonizing  the  claim,  and  General  Grant  advised  Miss 
Carroll  to  continue  to  push  her  claim  for  recognition. 

But  this  work  is  to  be  considered  rather  in  the  light  of 
an  historical  research  bearing  on  questions  of  the  day. 

Are  our  present  laws  and  customs  just  toward  women  ? 
Are  women  ever  preeminently  fitted  for  high  offices  in  the 
State?  Is  it  for  our  honor  and  advantage  when  so  fitted  to 
avail  ourselves  of  the  whole  united  intellect  and  moral 
power  of  men  and  women  side  by  side  in  peril  and  in  duty? 
Such  a  life  as  this  gives  to  all  these  questions  the  authorita 
tive  answer  of  established  facts. 

NEW  YORK,  April  2ist,  1891.  (Summer  address,  Law 
rence,  Long  Island,  N.  Y.) 

Miss  Carroll's  address  is  931  New  Hampshire  Avenue, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


A  SEARCH  FOR  THE  DOCUMENTS. 


Arriving  as  a  stranger  in  Washington,  knowing  nothing 
of  libraries  and  document  rooms,  Secretaries  offices,  and 
War  departments,  I  was  at  first  greatly  at  a  loss.  For 
many  years  I  had  had  in  my  possession  two  very  important 
documents,  the  last  memorial  of  1878  and  the  report  of  the 
Military  Committee  thereon  under  General  Bragg  in  1881. 
With  these  two  in  my  hand  I  proceeded  to  consult  the 
Descriptive  Catalogue  of  the  Congressional  Library.  To 
my  surprise,  I  found  that  these  two  very  important  docu 
ments  had  been  omitted  from  the  index.  Calling  attention 
to  the  fact,  we  looked  them  up  in  the  body  of  the  volume 
and  Mr.  Spofford  immediately  added  them  in  pencil  to 
gether  with  the  other  important  documents,  in  Miss  Car 
roll's  favor,  which  had  also  been  omitted.  When  [  made 
my  way  to  the  Senate  document  room  I  found  that  this  im 
portant  Miss.  Doc.  58  had  been  omitted  there  also,  having 
been  set  down  under  another  name.  Looking  it  up  in  the 
volume  of  Miscellaneous  Documents  I  again  obtained  the 
admission  by  Mr.  Amzi  Smith.  In  the  list  at  the  Secre 
taries  office  Miss.  Doc.  58  was  also  omitted  together  with 
the  last  report  by  a  Military  Committee,  under  General 
Bragg,  endorsing  the  claim  in  the  most  thorough  going 
way.  The  index  ending  with  an  intermediate  report  mis- 

(IX) 


X  SEARCH    FOR   THE    DOCUMENTS. 

takenly  designated  as  adverse,  though  the  previous  reports 
were  not  thus  heralded  as  favorable. 

After  the  first  report,  as  made  by  Senator  Howard  and 
the  repeated  endorsements  made  by  Wilson  and  Williams 
of  succeeding  Congresses,  these  two  documents  are  by  far 
the  most  important  and  interesting. 

The  memorial  of  '78,  containing  additional  evidence 
explaining  some  things,  otherwise  unaccountable,  and  mak 
ing  some  very  singular  revelations.  It  is  a  mine  of  wealth 
for  the  future  historian.  At  the  Secretary's  office  I  showed 
the  documents  and  stated  that  their  exclusion  must  have 
been  unfavorable  to  the  presentation  of  the  case.  I  was 
not  equally  fortunate  in  obtaining  their  immediate  admis 
sion,  but  trust  the  mistake  has  since  been  rectified. 

The  report  marked  as  "adverse"  would  be  more  truly 
described  as  "  admission  of  the  incontestable  nature  of  the 
evidence  in  support  of  the  claim,"  admitting  the  services 
in  every  particular  and  being  "adverse"  only  to  award 
involving  national  recognition. 

At  the  Secretary's  office  I  obtained  permission  to  see  the 
file  of  the  4ist  Congress,  2d.  session.  There  I  saw  the  first 
short  memorial  with  the  plan  of  campaign  attached  as  de 
scribed  by  Thomas  Scott.  Then  my  investigations  were 
temporarily  ended  by  the  outside  of  a  document  being 
shown  me  stating  that  the  papers  had  been  withdrawn  by 
Samuel  Hunt,  thus  agreeing  with  the  statement  made  by 
him  in  Miss.  Doc.  58,  that  they  had  been  stolen 'from  his 
desk  while  the  committee  were  examining  the  claim. 

I  found  it  very  difficult  to  obtain  the  earlier  documents. 


SEARCH    FOR    THE    DOCUMENTS.  XI 

"  Supply  exhausted  "  being  the  answer  that  has  long  been 
given,  but  all  can  be  looked  up  in  the  bound  volumes. 

When,  at  length,  fairly  started  in  my  work  I  was  disturbed 
by  a  rumor  that  Miss  Carroll's  papers,  formerly  placed  on 
file  at  the  War  Department,  were  no  longer  to  be  found 
there.  I  set  out  as  far  as  possible  to  investigate.  Provided 
with  an  excellent  letter  of  introduction  to  the  Secretary  of 
War  I  made  my  way,  on  March  6,  1891,  to  the  vast  build 
ing  of  the  War  Department  and  sent  in  my  letter  with  a 
list  of  the  documents  I  wanted  to  see.  Miss  Carroll's  Mili 
tary  papers,  given  in  the  Miss.  Doc.  58,  and  a  list  of  letters 
from  the  same  memorial  by  Wade,  Scott,  and  Evans. 

The  permission  being  kindly  accorded  I  was  transferred 
to  the  Record  office  and  told  that  the  file  should  be  ready 
for  me  on  the  following  day. 

Taking  with  me  the  Miss.  Doc.  58,  an  unpublished  man 
uscript  of  Miss  Carroll's,  and  specimens  of  the  handwriting 
of  Wade  and  Scott,  I  punctually  put  in  an  appearance,  was 
transferred  to  the  office  of  the  Adjutant  General,  and  Miss 
Carroll's  file  produced  for  my  inspection.  I  met  with  all 
possible  courtesy  and  every  facility  for  the  examination. 
I  found  two  of  the  papers  on  my  list  in  her  now  familiar 
handwriting,  and  some  others. 

A  letter  to  Secretary  Stanton,  of  May  14,  1862,  recom 
mending  the  occupation  of  Vicksburgh  and  referring  to 
Pilot  Scott,  stating  that  she  had  derived  from  him  some 
of  the  important  information  which  had  lead  to  her  paper 
to  the  War  Department  on  Nov.  30,  1 86 1,  which  had  oc 
casioned  the  change  of  campaign  in  the  southwest  and 
proved  of  such  incalculable  benefit  to  the  national  cause. 


XII  SEARCH    FOR   THE    DOCUMENTS. 

A  paper  of  May  i5th,  1862,  advising  that  Memphis  and 
Vicksburgh  should  be  strongly  occupied  and  the  Yazoo  river 
watched.  Another  letter  to  Stanton  concerning  her  pamph 
lets  and  proposing  to  write  another  one  in  aid  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln,  unjustly  assailed.  There  was  a  portion  of  a  letter 
written  in  great  haste  "from  St.  Louis.  There  was  an  inter 
esting  letter  from  Robert  Lincoln  when  Secretary  of  War. 
A  petition  from  a  group  of  ladies,  asking  for  information 
concerning  Miss  Carroll's  services  and  several  other  docu 
ments,  but  most  of  the  important  papers  on  my  list  were 
not  on  the  file. 

After  examining  the  papers  for  some  time  I  asked  to  see 
the  originals  of  the  letters  of  Wade  and  Scott.  I  was  told 
they  were  in  another  department  and  would  take  some 
time  to  look  up,  but  a  gentleman  was  politely  detailed  to 
conduct  me  there  and  look  up  the  letters.  I  opened  my 
Miss.  Doc.  58  and  pointed  out  the  long  list  of  letters  of 
Mr.  Wade's,  on  pages  23,  24,  25,  and  26,  and  asked  to  see 
those  first. 

The  gentlemen  expressed  his  astonishment  that,  with 
such  a  document  in  my  hand,  I  should  ask  for  originals. 
He  said  that  the  documents  printed  by  order  of  Congress 
were  to  all  intents  and  purposes  the  same  as  the  originals, 
as  they  were  never  so  printed  until  those  letters  and  papers 
had  been  examined  and  proved  to  be  genuine.  I  asked  if 
the  printing  was  also  a  guarantee  for  Miss  Carroll's  papers 
as  printed  in  that  document,  though  we  were  now  unable 
to  find  the  originals.  He  replied  assuredly  it  was  ;  that  I 
could  positively  rely  upon  all  that  had  been  so  printed. 


SEARCH    FOR   THE    DOCUMENTS.  XIII 

There  was  no  going  back  upon  the  Congressional  records. 
Other  gentlemen  came  up  and  confirmed  the  statement. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  seemed  unneccessary  to 
carry  the  investigation  any  further,  so  with  thanks  for  the 
great  friendliness  and  courtesy  that  I  had  met  with  I  took 
up  my  precious  Miss.  Doc.  58  and  departed  with  a  slight  in 
timation  that  if  anything  more  should  be  needed  they  might 
have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  me  again. 

The  missing  documents,  after  being  on  file  for  8  years, 
were  sent  on  one  or  more  occasions  from  the  War  Depart 
ment  to  the  Capitol  for  examination  by  committees. 

On  page  30  of  the  Miss.  Doc.  58  we  learn  the  reason,  on 
testimony  of  Wade  and  Hunt  (keeper  of  the  records),  why 
they  are  there  no  longer. 


For  list  of  documents  see  pages  29  and  82. 


MISS  CARROLL'S  MILITARY  MAPS. 


On  page  178  of  the  memorial  of  '78  Judge  Evans,  in  one 
of  the  many  repeated  letters  and  statements  of  great  inter 
est  that  I  have  been  obliged  to  omit  for  want  of  space, 
relates  how  he  stood  beside  Miss  Carroll  in  her  parlor  at  St. 
Louis  when  she  was  gathering  the  information  for  the  pre 
paration  of  her  paper  to  the  War  Department  of  November 
30,  1861,  and  its  accompanying  map.  He  says,  "I  have 
a  very  distinct  recollection  of  aiding  her  in  the  preparation 
of  that  paper,  tracing  with  her  upon  a  map  of  the  United 
States,  which  hung  in  her  parlor,  the  Memphis  and  Charles 
ton  railroad  and  its  connections  southward,  the  course  of 
the  Tennessee,  the  Alabama,  and  the  Tombigbee  rivers,  and 
the  position  of  Mobile  Bay  ;  and  when  Henry  fell  she  wrote 
the  Department,  showing  the  feasability  of  going  either  to 
Mobile  or  Vicksburg." 

In  his  testimony  given  on  page  85  of  Miss.  Doc.  179,  he 
says,  "On  Miss  Carroll's  return  from  the  West  she  prepared 
and  submitted  to  the  deponent,  for  his  opinion,  the  plan  of 
the  Tennessee  river  expedition,  as  set  forth  in  her  memorial. 
Being  a  native  and  resident  of  that  part  of  the  section  and 
intimately  acquainted  with  its  geography,  and  particularly 
with  the  Tennessee  river,  deponent  was  convinced  of  the 
vast  military  importance  of  her  paper,  and  advised  her  to 
lose  no  time  in  laying  the  same  before  the  War  Department, 

(xiv) 


MISS  CARROLL'S  MILITARY  MAPS.  xv 

which  she  did  on  or  about  November  30,  1861.  The  ac 
companying  map,  rapidly  prepared  by  Miss  Carroll,  was 
made  on  ordinary  writing  paper.  An  unpretentious  map, 
but  fraught  with  immense  importance  to  the  national  cause. 

Assistant  Secretary  of  War  Thomas  A.  Scott,  the  great 
railroad  magnate  and  a  man  of  remarkably  acute  mind,  saw 
at  a  glance  the  immense  importance  of  the  plan  ;  he  has 
tened  with  it  to  Lincoln,  and  when  her  plan  of  campaign 
was  determined  on  he  studied  her  map  with  the  greatest  care 
before  going  West  to  consolidate  the  troops  for  the  coming 
'campaign. 

The  second  map  sent  in  with  Miss  Carroll's  paper  of 
October,  1862,  when  the  army  before  Vicksburg  was  meet 
ing  with  disastrous  failure,  was  made  on  regular  map  paper, 
representing  the  fortifications  at  Vicksburg,  demonstrating 
that  they  could  not  be  taken  on  the  plan  then  adopted  and 
indicating  the  right  course  to  pursue.  Miss  Carroll  bought 
the  paper  for  the  map  at  Shillington's,  corner  of  Four-and- 
a-Half  street  and  Pennsylvania  avenue;  sketched  it  out 
herself  with  blue  and  red  pencils  and  ink  and  took  it  to  the 
War  Department. 

On  page  24  of  Miss.  Doc.  58,  Judge  Wade  writes : 

"Referring  to  a  conversation  with  Judge  Evans  last 
evening  he  called  my  attention  to  Colonel  Scott's  telegram 
announcing  the  fall  of  Island  No.  10  in  1862  as  endorsing 
your  plan,  when  Scott  said,  '  the  movement  in  the  rear  has 
done  the  work.'  I  stated  to  the  Judge,  as  you  and  he  knew 
before,  that  your  paper  on  the  reduction  of  Vicksburg  had 
done  the  work  on  that  place,  after  being  so  long  baffled 


xvi  MISS  CARROLL'S  MILITARY  MAPS. 

and  with  the  loss  of  so  much  life  and  treasure  by  trying  to 
take  it  from  the  water;  that  to  my  knowledge  your  paper 
was  approved  and  adopted  by  the  Secretary  of  War  and 
immediately  sent  out  to  the  proper  military  authority  in  that 
Department." 

On  April  16,  1891,  by  permission  of  the  kindly  author 
ities  of  the  War  Department,  search  was  made  in  the  office 
of  the  Chief  Engineer  to  see  if,  by  chance,  these  maps 
might  have  come  to  the  War  Department.  No  trace  or 
record  was  found  and  it  seemed  to  be  agreed  that,  consider 
ing  the  circumstances  of  extreme  secrecy  attending  the  in 
auguration  of  the  campaign,  it  was  unlikely  that  they  should 
come  there.  Time,  which  so  often  coroborates  the  truth, 
may  possibly  bring  those  maps  to  light.  At  present  I  can 
not  trace  them. 

It  is  proposed  to  follow  this  volume  with  another,  en 
titled  "  Civil  War  Papers  in  Aid  of  the  Administration," 
by  Anna  Ella  Carroll,  with  notes  by  the  author. 


CHAPTER  I. 


ANCESTRY    AND    OLD    PLANTATION    LIFE. 

Ill  looking  at  the  map  of  Maryland  we  find  that  the 
configuration  of  the  State  is  of  an  unusual  character.  The 
eastern  portion  is  divided  through  the  middle  by  the  broad 
waters  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  leaving  nine  counties  with  the 
State  of  Delaware  on  the  long  stretch  between  the  Chesa 
peake,  Delaware  Bay,  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Of  late 
years  the  great  tide  of  population  has  set  toward  the  western 
side  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  leaving  the  widely  divided  eastern 
counties  in  a  comparatively  quiet  and  primitive  condition. 
But  in  the  earlier  history  of  our  country  these  eastern 
counties,  with  easy  access  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  were  of 
greater  comparative  importance  to  the  State,  and  were  a 
center  of  culture  and  of  hospitality.  It  was  in  Somerset, 
one  of  the  two  southernmost  of  these  eastern  counties,  that 
Sir  Thomas  King,  coming  from  England  about  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  purchased  an  extensive  domain. 

Landing  first  in  Virginia  with  a  group  of  colonists,  he 
there  married  Miss  Reid,  an  English  lady  also  highly  con 
nected  and  of  an  influential  family.  The  estate  which  he 
subsequently  purchased  in  Maryland  embraced  several  plan 
tations,  extending  from  the  county  road  back  to  a  creek,  a 
branch  of  the  Annemessex  river,  then  and  since  known  as 
King's  creek. 

0) 


2     ,     ..     -      ANCESTRY   AND    OLD    PLANTATION    LIFE. 

Standing  well  back  and  divided  from  the  county  road  by 
extensive  grounds,  Sir  Thomas  King  built  Kingston  Hall, 
a  pleasant  and  commodious  residence.  An  avenue  of  fine 
trees,  principally  Lombard  poplars  and  the  magnificent 
native  tulip  tree,  formed  the  approach  to  the  Hall,  and  its 
gardens  were  terraced  down  to  the  creek  behind. 

On  one  of  the  outlying  plantations  Sir  Thomas  King  also 
established  the  little  village  of  Kingston,  of  which  he  built 
and  owned  every  house.  He  brought  hither  settlers,  but 
the  little  place  did  not  thrive.  Plantation  life  and  pro 
prietary  ownership  were  not  conducive  to  the  growth  of 
cities.  As  the  old  settlers  died  out  the  houses  were  aban 
doned,  and  the  post  office  was  removed  to  a  corner  of  the 
Hall  plantation,  then  known  as  Kingston  Corner.  A  new 
settlement  grew  up  there,  and  since  emancipation  has 
changed  the  conditions  of  life  it  has  grown  and  thriven. 
It  is  now  a  promising  little  place  of  250  inhabitants.  It 
has  assumed  to  itself  the  name  of  the  older  village  and  is 
known  as  Kingston  on  the  present  maps. 

At  the  Hall  Sir  Thomas  King  established  his  family  resi 
dence.  Here  he  lived  and  here  his  wife  died,  leaving  but 
one  child,  a  daughter,  heiress  to  these  wide  estates,  the 
future  mother  of  Governor  Thomas  King  Carroll  and  the 
grandmother  of  Anna  Ella  Carroll,  whose  interesting  career 
is  the  subject  of  our  present  relation. 

Through  all  the  early  history  of  Maryland  the  contests 
between  Catholic  and  Protestant  form  one  of  its  most  con 
spicuous  features.  Early  settled  by  Lord  Baltimore,  a  Cath 
olic  proprietary,  his  followers  were  at  once  involved  in  a 


ANCESTRY    AND    OLD    PLANTATION    LIFE.  3 

struggle  with  still  earlier  settlers  at  Kent  Island,  in  the 
Chesapeake  Bay,  and  the  Protestants  who  followed,  while 
condemning  Catholicism  as  a  rule  of  faith,  associated  it  also 
with  the  doctrine  of  divine  right  and  arbitrary  rule.  Bitter 
contests  followed.  The  most  active  minds  of  the  Colony 
enrolled  themselves  enthusiastically  in  the  opposing  parties. 

St.  Mary's,  a  little  town  on  the  western  side  of  the  Chesa 
peake,  was  the  ancient  capital  of  the  State  and  the  head 
quarters  of  Catholicism. 

Sir  Thomas  King,  on  his  side,  was  a  staunch  Presbyterian. 
This  household  was  strictly  ruled  in  conformity  to  his  faith, 
and  by  liberal  contribution  and  personal  influence  he  was 
largely  instrumental  in  building  the  first  Presbyterian  meet 
ing-house,  at  the  little  town  of  Rehoboth,  a  few  miles  from 
his  own  domain,  a  great  barn-like  structure  of  red  brick, 
which  remains  to  this  day.  The  marriage  of  Miss  King 
with  her  Cousin,  young  Mr.  Armstead,  of  Virginia,  the  ward 
of  Sir  Thomas  King,  was  an  event  that  had  been  planned 
for  in  both  families,  and  was  looked  forward  to  with  great 
satisfaction  on  all  sides. 

One  may  well  imagine,  then,  the  consternation  which 
ensued  to  the  proprietor  of  the  Hall,  to  his  relatives  and 
friends,  and  all  the  neighbors  of  that  staunch  Presbyterian 
region,  when  Colonel  Henry  James  Carroll,  of  St.  Mary's, 
of  the  old  Catholic  family  of  the  noted  Charles  Carroll,  and 
himself  a  Catholic  by  profession,  came  across  the  waters 
of  the  Chesapeake,  courting  the  only  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas 
King,  the  heiress  to  all  these  estates  and  the  reigning  belle 
of  the  county. 


4  ANCESTRY   AND    OLD    PLANTATION    LIFE. 

In  vain  was  the  bitter  opposition  of  father  and  friends. 
The  willful  young  heiress  insisted  on  giving  to  the  handsome 
officer  from  St.  Mary's  the  preference  over  all  her  other  ad 
mirers.  It  may  be  that  a  reaction  from  the  strict  rules  and 
the  severe  tenets  of  her  education  gave  to  this  young  scion 
of  another  faith  an  additional  charm.  However  that  may 
be,  love  won  the  day. 

The  father  was  compelled  to  yield,  and  the  young  heiress 
became  the  wife  of  the  intrepid  Colonel  Henry  James  Car 
roll.  It  could  hardly  have  been  expected  that  Sir  Thomas 
King  should  associate  with  himself  under  the  same  roof 
a  son-in-law  of  principles  so  opposed  to  his  own ;  but  he 
established  the  young  couple  on  the  adjacent  estate  of 
Bloomsborough,  which  he  also  owned,  and  here  their  little 
son,  Thomas  King  Carroll,  first  saw  the  light  of  day. 

The  old  proprietor,  in  his  great  empty  hall,  coveted  this 
little  grandson  and  proposed  to  adopt  him  as  his  own  child 
and  make  him  the  heir  to  all  his  estates. 

In  course  of  time  a  younger  son,  Charles  Cecilius  Car 
roll,  was  born  to  the  Bloomsborough  household,  the  grand 
father's  proposition  was  accepted,  and  little  Thomas  King 
Carroll,  then  between  five  and  six  years  of  age,  became  an 
inmate  of  Kingston  Hall  and  the  object  of  Sir  Thomas 
King's  devoted  affection  and  brightest  hopes. 

Governor  Carroll,  in  after  times,  used  to  relate  to  his 
children  how  they  spent  the  winter  evenings  alone  in  the 
old  Hall.  His  grandfather,  in  his  spacious  armc-hair,  on 
one  side  of  the  open  hearth,  with  a  blazing  wood  fire  and 
tall  brass  andirons ;  the  little  boy,  in  a  low  chair,  on  the 


ANCESTRY    AND    OLD    PLANTATION    LIFE.  5 

opposite  side,  listening  to  the  tales  that  his  grandfather  re 
lated  of  ancient  times  and  heroic  deeds.  By  these  means 
Sir  Thomas  King  strove  to  amuse  his  youthful  heir  and  to 
train  his  mind  to  high  principles  and  brave  aspirations. 
But  Sunday  must  have  been  a  terrible  day  to  the  little  boy, 
attending  long  services  in  the  red  brick  meeting-house  and 
occupying  himself  as  he  best  could  between  whiles  with  the 
old  English  family  Bible,  with  pictures  of  devils  and  lakes 
of  fire  and  brimstone,  calculated  to  inspire  his  youthful 
mind  with  horror  and  alarm. 

At  an  early  age  the  young  heir  was  sent  to  college,  to 
the  Pennsylvania  University  at  Philadelphia,  then  the  most 
famous  seat  of  learning  for  those  parts.  Here  he  graduated 
with  distinguished  honors,  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  Among 
his  classmates  and  intimate  friends  were  Mr.  William  M. 
Meredith,  of  Philadelphia;  Benjamin  Gratz,  of  St.  Louis, 
and  the  father  of  Mr.  Mitchell,  the  author  of  Ike  Marvel. 

Returning  to  Maryland,  Thomas  King  Carroll  began  the 
study  of  law  with  Ephraim  King  Wilson,  who  had  been 
named  after  Sir  Thomas  King.  He  was  the  father  of  the 
late  United  States  Senator  for  Maryland.  His  studies 
being  completed,  arrangements  were  made  to  associate  him 
as  partner  with  Robert  Goodloe  Harper,  the  son-in-law  of 
Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrollton,  in  his  lucrative  law  practice, 
and  a  house  was  engaged  for  his  future  residence  in  Balti 
more. 

During  the  studies  of  Thomas  King  Carroll,  his  aged 
grandfather,  Sir  Thomas  King,  having  died,  Colonel  Henry 
James  Carroll  and  his  family  were  residing  at  Kingston 
Hall  and  managing  the  estate  for  the  young  heir. 


6  ANCESTRY   AND    OLD    PLANTATION    LIFE. 

An  old  friend  of  the  family  was  Dr.  Henry  James  Steven 
son,  one  of  the  prominent  physicians  of  Baltimore.  Dr. 
Stevenson  had  come  over  formerly  as  a  surgeon  in  the  Brit 
ish  army.  He  had  married  in  England  Miss  Anne  Henry, 
of  Hampton.  Settling  in  Baltimore,  he  acquired  a  large 
estate,  then  on  the  outskirts,  now  in  the  center  of  Baltimore. 
On  Parnassus  Hill  he  built  a  very  spacious  and  handsome 
residence.  During  the  Revolutionary  War  Dr.  Stevenson 
remained  loyal  to  his  British  training  and  was  an  outspoken 
Tory.  The  populace  of  Baltimore  were  so  incensed  against 
him  that  they  mobbed  his  residence,  threatening  to  destroy 
it.  The  Doctor  showed  his  military  courage  by  standing, 
fully  armed,  in  his  doorway  and  threatening  to  shoot  the 
first  man  who  attempted  to  enter.  The  mob  were  so  im 
pressed  by  his  determined  attitude  that  they  finally  retired, 
leaving  the  owner  and  his  property  uninjured.  Dr.  Steven 
son  afterwards  became  much  beloved  through  his  devotion 
and  care,  bestowed  alike  on  the  wounded  of  both  armies. 
He  became  noted  in  the  profession  from  his  controversy 
with  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  of  Philadelphia,  the  one  advocat 
ing  and  the  other  opposing  inoculation  for  small-pox.  Dr. 
Stevenson  was  so  enthusiastic  that  he  gave  up,  temporarily, 
his  beautiful  residence  as  a  hospital  for  the  support  of  his 
theory. 

An  ivory  miniature  in  a  gold  locket,  now  in  possession 
of  Miss  Carroll,  represents  Dr.  Stevenson  in  his  red  coat 
and  white  waistcoat,  and  at  the  back  of  the  locket  there  is 
a  picture  of  Parnassus  Hill,  crowned 'by  the  Doctor's  resi 
dence,  with  a  perpendicular  avenue  straight  up  hill,  and  a 


ANCESTRY    AND    OLD    PLANTATION    LIFE.  7 

negro  attendant  opening  the  gate  at  the  foot  for  Dr.  Steven 
son,  mounted  on  his  horse  and  returning  home.  It  is  a 
very  quaint  and  valuable  specimen  of  ante-revolutionary 
art. 

The  daughter  of  this  valiant  doctor  was  a  beautiful  and 
accomplished  girl,  Miss  Juliana  Stevenson.  She  is  de 
scribed  as  having  very  regular  features,  a  complexion  of 
dazzling  fairness,  deep  blue  eyes,  and  auburn  hair  flowing 
in  curls  upon  her  shoulders.  She  was  a  good  musician, 
playing  the  organ  at  her  church,  and  educated  carefully  in 
every  respect.  Her  knowledge  of  English  history  was  con 
sidered  something  phenomenal. 

Thomas  King  Carroll  early  won  the  affections  of  this 
lovely  girl,  and  they  were  married  by  Bishop  Kemp  before 
the  youthful  bridegroom  had  completed  his  twentieth  year. 

Those  that  care  for  heraldry  may  be  interested  to  know 
that  at  Baltimore  may  be  seen  the  eight  coats-of-arms  be 
longing  to  the  King-Carroll  family,  of  which  Miss  Anna 
Ella  is  the  eldest  representative. 

When  the  question  came  of  Miss  Stevenson  leaving  home, 
her  especial  attendant,  a  bright  colored  woman,  had  been 
given  her  choice  of  remaining  with  Dr.  Stevenson's  family 
or  accompanying  her  mistress.  The  poor  woman  was 
greatly  exercised  in  choosing  between  conflicting  ties. 

Mrs.  Carroll  was  accustomed  to  describe  to  her  children, 
with  much  feeling,  the  scene  which  followed.  Sitting  in 
her  room  she  heard  a  knock  at  the  door  and  in  rushed 
Milly,  with  her  face  bathed  in  tears,  and  throwing  herself 
at  Miss  Stevenson's  feet  she  exclaimed  "  Oh,  mistis,  I  can- 


8  ANCESTRY   AND    OLD    PLANTATION    LIFE. 

not,  cannot,  leave  you  !  "  It  was  a  moment  of  deep  emotion 
for  both  mistress  and  maid.  Milly  followed  Mrs.  Carroll 
to  her  new  home  and  became  the  old  mammy,  the  dear  old 
mammy  of  all  the  Carroll  children. 

Her  daughter  Leah  was  born  on  the  Kingston  plantation, 
and  then  her  grandaughter  Milly,  who  in  later  times  clung 
to  the  changing  fortunes  of  the  Carroll  family,  and  is  at 
this  day  a  devoted  attendant  on  her  invalid  mistress,  Miss 
Anna  Ella  Carroll.  A  visitor  to  the  modest  home  in  Wash 
ington,  now  occupied  by  the  Carroll  sisters,  is  met  at  the 
door  by  the  comely  face  and  pleasant  smile  of  this  same 
faithful  Milly.  The  life-long  devotion  of  the  affectionate 
"  Mammy"  illustrates  one  of  the  most  touching  features 
of  the  old  plantation  life  ;  but  the  shadow  of  slavery  was 
over  it  all.  To  follow  the  fortunes  of  her  adored  mistress, 
Mammy  left  behind  her  in  Baltimore  her  husband,  a  free 
colored  man.  But  what  was  the  marital  relation  to  a  slave  ! 
The  youthful  couple  set  out  on  a  wedding  tour,  but  were  un 
expectedly  recalled  by  the  sudden  death  of  Colonel  Henry 
James  Carroll.  It  was  necessary  for  his  son  to  return  at 
once  and  take  possession  his  of  inheritance. 

The  coming  home  of  the  proprietor  and  his  youthful 
bride  was  a  great  event  at  Kingston  Hall.  There  were  at 
that  time  on  the  plantation  150  slaves,  besides  the  children. 
They  are  described  as  a  fine  and  stalwart  people,  looking 
as  if  they  belonged  to  a  different  race  from  the  colored  peo 
ple  that  we  now  meet  with  in  cities.  They  seemed  like  a 
race  of  giants.  The  men  were  usually  as  much  as  six  feet  in 
height,  and  broad  and  muscular  in  proportion.  All  these 


ANCESTRY    AND    OLD    PLANTATION   LIFE.  9 

numerous  dependents  were  drawn  up  in  lines  on  the  long 
avenues,  dressed  in  their  livery  of  green  and  buff,  and  must 
have  presented  an  imposing  appearance  as  the  stately  family 
carriage  was  seen  approaching  through  the  long  vista  of 
fine  old  trees.  The  arrival  was  heralded  by  a  roar  of  wel 
come  and  demonstrations  of  joy. 

And  thus  the  youthful  couple  took  possession  of  the  home 
that  was  to  be  the  scene  of  so  many  joys  and  so  many  sor 
rows,  ending  in  troublous  times  that  completely  changed 
the  existing  order  of  things,  and  which  witnessed  the  con 
clusion  of  the  reign  of  the  Kings  and  the  Carrollsat  King 
ston  Hall. 

Shortly  after  his  return  with  his  bride  Thomas  King 
Carroll  was  elected  to  serve  in  the  Legislature.  He  only  at 
tained  the  requisite  age  of  21  years  on  the  day  before  he 
took  his  seat.  His  birth-day  was  celebrated  at  Kingston 
Hall  after  the  old  English  fashion,  and  he  was  feted  and 
toasted  and  received  congratulations  on  all  sides.  It  is  said 
that  he  was  the  youngest  member  ever  elected  to  the  Legis 
lature. 

Thomas  King  Carroll  commenced  life  not  only  with  wide 
social  advantages,  but  with  great  natural  gifts.  He  was 
striking  in  appearance,  and  of  so  graceful  and  dignified  a 
demeanor  that  it  is  said  that  he  never  entered  a  crowd 
without  a  movement  of  respect  and  appreciation  showing 
the  impression  that  he  created. 

He  was  a  good  orator  and  of  unimpeachable  integrity  and 
lofty  character.  This  was  early  exemplified  when  as  still 
very  youthful  he  was  sent  to  represent  his  county  at  a  po- 


10  ANCESTRY    AND    OLD    PLANTATION    LIFE. 

litical  caucus  in  Baltimore.  The  question  of  raising  money 
for  the  approaching  campaign  came  up,  and  he  was  asked 
in  his  turn  how  much  would  be  needed  for  his  county  of 
Somerset.  He  arose  and  said  :  "  With  all  due  deference, 
Mr.  President,  not  one  cent.  We  can  carry  our  county  with 
out  any  such  aid  !  "  There  was  a  general  laugh,  and  Rob 
ert  Goodloe  Harper,  who  was  present,  said,  "Very  well, 
•young  gentleman,  you  will  tell  a  different  tale  a  few  years 
hence."  He  went  home  and  related  the  proceedings  to  his 
constituents,  who  applauded  his  answer,  and  that  year 
Somerset  was  the  banner  county  of  the  State. 

The  early  years  succeeding  the  marriage  were  years  of 
peace  and  prosperity. 

The  young  bride  won  all  hearts  by  her  beauty  and  the 
sweetness  of  her  disposition. 

In  time  a  lively  group  of  children  filled  the  old  Hall 
with  life  and  gayety. 

Thomas  King  Carroll,  like  many  another  Maryland 
planter,  was  fully  convinced  that  in  itself  slavery  was 
wrong.  The  early  settlers  of  Maryland  would  gladly  have 
excluded  it,  but  the  institution  was  forced  upon  them  by 
the  mother  country,  the  English  monarch  and  his  court 
deriving  large  incomes  from  the  sale  of  slaves  and  canceling 
every  law  made  by  the  early  settlers  to  prevent  their  in 
troduction  into  the  colony.  Slavery  had  now  become  a 
settled  institution,  on  which  the  whole  social  fabric  was  built, 
and  individual  proprietors,  however  they  might  disapprove 
of  the  system,  could  see  no  way  to  change  it.  All  that 
Thomas  King  Carroll  knew  how  to  do  was  to  seek  as  far  as 


ANCESTRY    AND    OLD    PLANTATION    LIFE.  II 

possible  the  happiness  and  welfare  of  his  slaves,  and  slavery 
showed  itself  on  the  Kingston  plantation  in  its  mildest  and 
most  attractive  form. 

Not  much  money  was  made  usually  upon  plantations,  but 
everything  was  produced  upon  the  estate  that  was  needed 
to  feed  and  clothe  the  great  group  of  dependents.  And 
this  was  the  state  of  things  at  Kingston  Hall. 

There  was  Uncle  Nathan,  the  butler,  whose  wife  was  Aunt 
Susan,  the  dairywoman  ;  Uncle  Davy,  the  shoemaker ;  Saul, 
the  blacksmith ;  Mingo,  the  old  body  servant  of  Colonel 
Carroll ;  Fortune,  the  coachman,  etc. ,  etc. — all  very  power 
ful  men. 

Every  trade  was  represented  upon  the  estate.  There 
were  blacksmith  shops;  there  were  shoemakers,  tanners, 
weavers,  dyers,  etc.  All  the  goods  worn  by  the  servants, 
male  and  female,  were  manufactured  on  the  place.  The 
wool  was  sheared  from  the  sheep,  and  went  through  every 
process  needed  to  produce  the  linsey-woolsey  garments  of 
men  and  women.  The  women  were  allowed  to  choose  the 
colors  of  their  dresses,  and  the  wool  was  dyed  in  accord 
ance  with  their  tastes.  Two  of  these  dresses  were  allowed 
for  a  winter's  wear,  and  each  woman  was  furnished  with  a 
new  calico  print  for  Sundays. 

There  were  few  local  preachers  among  them  at  that  time, 
but  two  were  noticeable  during  the  childhood  of  the  Car 
roll  children,  Ethan  Howard  and  Uncle  Saul.  And  there 
was  an  Uncle  Remus,  too,  in  Fortune,  the  coachman,  who 
told  the  children  the  stories  of  Brer  Rabbit  a^d  the  Tar- 
baby  quite  as  effectively  as  the  Uncle  Remus  of  oui  popular 
magazines. 


12  ANCESTRY   AND    OLD    PLANTATION    LIFE. 

The  servants  had  their  own  rivalriesand  class  distinctions. 
One  portion  of  the  house  servants  prided  themselves  as  be 
ing  the  old  servants — born  on  the  place.  Another  group 
plumed  themselves  as  having  come  in  with  the  "Mistis," 
and  having  seen  outside  regions  and  a  wider  range  of  life. 
But  all  the  house  servants  considered  themselves  vastly 
superior  to  the  field  hands  and  treated  them  with  conde 
scension. 

The  house  servants,  though  slaves,  in  fact,  were  absolute 
despots  in  their  own  department.  The  Carroll  children 
would  not  have  dared  to  touch  a  knife  or  a  fork  without 
the  permission  of  the  butler,  and  if  they  had  attempted  to 
enter  the  cellar  or  the  dairy  without  leave  from  their  re 
spective  guardians  a  revolutionary  war  would  have  been  the 
result. 

Mammy,  too,  was  the  absolute  ruler  over  every  shoe  and 
stocking,  and  was  expected  under  all  circumstances  to  be 
responsible  for  every  article  of  the  children's  toilet. 

The  largest  quarter  devoted  to  the  slaves  was  a  great  cir 
cular  structure,  with  a  central  hall  surrounded  by  parti 
tions,  giving  to  each  field  hand  a  separate  sleeping  birth. 
The  hall  in  the  center  was  devoted  to  those  who  were  old 
or  unfitted  for  work,  and  here  the  young  children  were  de 
posited  while  their  parents  were  pursuing  their  tasks,  and 
they  were  expected  to  wait  upon  the  "  Grannies"  and  be 
cared  for  in  return. 

Behind  this  central  apartment  was  one  in  which  the  food 
was  prepared,  and  there  was  a  great  hand-mill,  where  the 
corn  was  ground  for  the  daily  use. 


ANCESTRY    AND    OLD    PLANTATION    LIFE.  13 

The  children  at  the  Hall  were  seldom  allowed  to  enter 
these  quarters,  but  were  occasionally  granted  permission 
to  go  there  when  delicacies  for  the  sick  or  new  caps  and 
dresses  for  the  babies  were  furnished  from  the  Hall. 

There  were  also  quarters  for  the  married  slaves,  each 
family  having  its  little  cottage  and  garden,  which  it  was 
allowed  to  cultivate  on  its  own  account,  and  great  was  the 
pride  of  its  occupants  if  by  dint  of  especial  care  they  could 
raise  the  spring  vegetables  earlier  than  in  the  master's  gar 
den,  and  carry  them  up  to  the  Hall  in  triumph.  There 
they  always  found  a  customer  ready  to  purchase  their  pro 
duce.  Every  Monday  morning  rations  were  given  out  for 
a  week  by  the  overseer  and  they  were  cooked  by  the  fami 
lies  in  their  own  quarters. 

The  hours  of  work  were  moderate,  and  on  Saturday  they 
had  a  half  holiday. 

Sometimes  there  were  parties  and  merry-makings  at  the 
negro  quarters.  On  great  occasions,  such  as  the  marriage 
of  a  house  servant,  the  family  at  the  Hall,  by  their  pres 
ence,  gave  dignity  to  the  festivities,  and  inwardly  they 
greatly  enjoyed  the  fantastic  scene. 

At  Kingston  Hall  open  house  was  kept,  and  numerous 
visitors  and  entertainments  made  life  gay  for  the  children, 
who  grew  up  in  an  atmosphere  of  ease  and  hospitality,  little 
anticipating  the  vicissitudes  of  the  future  and  the  stormy 
and  heart-rending  times  in  which  their  country  was  about  to 
be  involved. 


CHAPTER  II. 


CHILDHOOD  AND  EARLY  LIFE — MISS  CARROLL'S  YOUTHFUL 
LETTERS  TO  HER  FATHER RELIGIOUS  TENDENCIES — LET 
TERS  FROM  DR.  ROBERT  J.  BRECKENRIDGE — SALE  OF  KINGS 
TON  HALL — EARLY  WRITINGS — LETTER  OF  HON.  EDWARD 

BATES BREAKING    OUT    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR PREOCCUPA 
TION    IN    MILITARY   AFFAIRS. 

On  August  the  29th,  1815,  Anna  Ella  Carroll  was  born, 
at  Kingston  Hall.  By  this  time  a  little  brick  Episcopal 
church  had  also  been  built  at  Rehoboth,  but  the  congrega 
tion  was  too  small  to  support  a  resident  clergyman,  and  it 
had  to  alternate  with  other  churches  in  its  services.  At 
this  infant  church,  in  due  course  of  time,  Anna  Ella  was 
christened  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Slemmonds.  She  was  the 
eldest  child,  and  thenceforth  the  pride  of  her  distinguished 
father,  who  viewed  with  delight  her  remarkable  intelli 
gence,  and  early  made  her  his  companion  in  the  political 
interests  in  which  he  took  such  an  active  part.  It  soon  be 
came  evident  that  this  was  a  child  of  decided  and  unusual 
character.  When  but  three  years  old  she  would  sit  on  a 
little  stool  at  her  father's  feet,  in  his  library,  listening  in 
tently  as  he  read  aloud  his  favorite  passages  from  Shake 
speare. 

All  Mr.  Carroll's  children  were  so  drilled  in  Shakespeare 
that  there  was  not  one  of  them  who  could  not,  when  some- 

(•4) 


CHILDHOOD    AND    EARLY   LIFE.  15 

what  older,  repeat  long  passages  by  rote,  and  they  made 
the  rehearsal  of  scenes  from  Shakespeare's  plays  one  of  their 
favorite  amusements.  Anna  Ella  showed  no  taste  for  ac 
complishments;  cared  neither  for  dancing,  drawing,  music, 
or  needlework.  She  used  to  boast  to  her  sisters  that  she 
had  made  a  shirt  beautifully  when  ten  years  old  ;  but  they 
would  smile  at  the  idea,  as  they  had  never  seen  her  handle  a 
needle  and  could  associate  her  only  with  books. 

These  were  to  her  of  absorbing  interest,  and  books,  too, 
of  a  grave  and  thoughtful  character.  Alison's  History  and 
Kant's  Philosophy  were  her  favorite  reading  at  eleven 
years  of  age.  She  read  fiction  to  some  extent,  under  her 
father's  direction  ;  but,  with  the  exception  of  Shakespeare 
and  Scott,  she  never  cared  for  it.  While  other  girls  of  her 
age  were  entranced  by  Sir  Charles  Grandison  and  fascinated 
by  the  heroes  of  Bulwer's  earlier  novels,  she  turned  from 
them  to  read  Coke  and  Blackstone  with  her  father,  and  fol 
lowed  with  him  the  political  debates  and  discussions  of  the 
day.  She  studied  with  lively  interest  the  principles  and 
events  which  led  to  the  separation  of  the  Colonists  from 
the  Mother  Country,  and  buried  herself  in  theological 
questions.  At  a  very  early  age  her  letters  bore  reference  to 
the  gravest  subjects.  Imagination  was  never  prominent  ; 
her  mind  was  essentially  analytical.  Pure  reason  and  clear 
consecutive  argument  delighted  her,  and  works  of  that 
nature  were  eagerly  sought  by  her. 

Her  life  passed  largely  in  her  father's  excellent  library, 
which  was  well  stocked  with  classic  works,  both  history, 
biography,  philosophy,  and  poetry,  and  her  education  was 
to  him  a  constant  delight. 


1 6  CHILDHOOD    AND    EARLY    LIFE. 

Miss  Carroll's  early  associates  were  the  children  of  the 
neighboring  proprietors,  the  Handys,  the  Wilsons,  the  Gales, 
the  Henrys,  etc.,  and  she  early  made  acquaintance  with 
the  distinguished  men  who  where  her  father's  associates. 

Mr.  Carroll  continued  to  serve  in  the  Legislature  until 
elected  Governor  of  Maryland,  in  1829.  On  this  occasion 
he  received  an  interesting  letter  from  Charles  Carroll,  of 
Carrollton,  congratulating  him  and  expressing  his  pride 
and  gratification  at  the  event.  When  Governor  Thomas 
King  Carroll  went  to  Annapolis,  in  performance  of  the 
duties  of  his  office,  he  was  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Carroll, 
with  the  younger  children  and  a  group  of  servants  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  invaluable  Mammy.  Mrs.  Car 
roll,  by  her  beauty  and  accomplishments,  was  well  fitted 
to  adorn  her  station.  When  the  weather  became  warm 
she  returned  with  her  children  to  Kingston  Hall. 

The  following  charming  letters  from  Miss  Carroll,  then 
a  girl  of  fourteen,  show  the  tenderness  of  the  relation  be 
tween  father  and  child,  and  at  how  early  an  age  she  inter 
ested  herself  in  politics  and  entered  into  the  questions  of 
the  day  : 

KINGSTON  HALL,  Jan.  20,  1830. 
MY  PRECIOUS  FATHER  : 

My  dearest  mother  received  your  letter  on  Monday,  and 
we  were  all  happy  to  know  you  had  arrived  safely  at  the 
seat  of  government,  although  the  Annapolis  paper  had  pre 
viously  announced  it. 

Oh  !  my  dear  father,  if  I  could  but  see  you  !    I  miss  you — 


CHILDHOOD    AND    EARLY    LIFE.  17 

we  all  miss  you — beyond  measure.     The  time  passes  tedi 
ously  without  you. 

I  have  just  read  Governor  Martin's  last  message.  *  I 
think  it  quite  well  written.  I  wondered  to  see  it  published 
in  the  Telegraph  [an  opposition  paper,  I  suppose].  I  am 
anxious  to  see  what  the  Eastern  papers  say  of  your  election. 
Please,  dear  father,  when  anything  relating  to  your  political 
action  is  published,  whether  in  the  form  of  a  message,  in 
pamphlet,  or  in  newspaper,  do  not  fail  to  let  us  have  them. 
I  read  with  so  much  pride  your  letter  in  the  Annapolis 
paper.  It  merits  all  the  distinction  and  fame  it  has  brought 
you.  Too  much  could  not  be  said  in  praise  of  my  noble 

father.     Dr.   K was  here  to-day.     He  says  they  feel 

"  quite  exalted  "  to  be  so  near  neighbors  to  a  Governor. 

When  do  you  think  the  Legislature  will  rise  ?  But  I 
must  not  write  on  political  subjects  only.  Brother  is  de 
lighted  with  his  new  horse.  The  little  children  are  beg 
ging  dearest  mother  to  write  you  for  them.  May  every 
blessing  attend  you,  my  precious  father.  Be  sure  and  write 
me  a  long  letter. 

Your  devoted  daughter, 

A.  E.  CARROLL. 


KINGSTON  HALL,  Feb.  17,  1830. 

MY  BELOVED  FATHER  : 

Again  we  are  disappointed  in  your  arrival  home  !  and 
how  disappointed  no  tongue  can  tell.  Dearest  mother 
thought  it  possible  you  might  come  on  a  little  visit,  even 
if  the  Legislature  did  not  rise,  f  You  said  in  your  last  let 
ter  to  me  that  this  was  "  probable."  Why  did  you  not  say 


*  He  was  Governor  Carroll's  predecessor. 
t  At  that  time  the  sessions  of  the  Legislature  were  not  re 
stricted,  as  now  they  are,  to  sixty  days. 

2  c 


1 8  CHILDHOOD    AND    EARLY   LIFE. 

"  certain  ?  ' '  Then  I  would  rejoice,  for  when  my  father  says 
a  thing  is  certain,  I  know  it  is  certain.  I  am  happy  to  tell 
you  that  I  am  much  better ;  have  had  a  long  and  tedious 
spell.  I  would  lie  for  hours  and  think  of  you  away  from 
me,  and  if  I  had  not  the  kindest  and  tenderest  mother  to 
care  for  me  and  for  us  all,  what  should  we  do.  I  under 
stand  that  your  appointments  have  not  been  generally  ap 
proved  by  the  milk-and-water  strata  of  the  party,  of  course, 
for  no  thorough  Jackson  man  would  denounce,  even  if  he  did 
not  approve.  It  is  my  principle,  as  well  as  that  of  Lycur- 
gus,  to  avoid  "  mediums  " — that  is  to  say,  people  who  are 
not  decidedly  one  thing  or  the  other.  In  politics  they  are 
the  inveterate  enemies  of  the  State.  I  hear  there  has  been 
a  committee  appointed  to  visit  you  on  your  return  to  the 
Hall  and  present  a  petition  for  the  removal  of  some  whom 
you  have  recently  appointed.  They  call  themselves  reform 
ers.  I  want  reform,  too,  even  in  court  criers,  but  to  be  for 
ever  reforming  reform  is  absurd.  I  know  whatever  you 
do  is  right,  and  needs  no  reform,  my  wisest  and  dearest  of 
fathers. 

Write  as  soon  as  you  can  to  your  loving  child, 

A.  E.  CARROLL. 


Mrs.  Carroll  was  a  devoted  member  of  the  Church  of 
England,  as  was  natural  in  the  daughter  of  staunch  Dr. 
Stevenson. 

As  there  were  no  Sunday  schools  in  those  days,  Mrs. 
Carroll  gathered  her  children  around  her  on  Sunday  after 
noons  and  drilled  them  in  the  church  catechism  until  it  was 
as  familiar  to  them  as  their  ABC;  but  Anna  Ella  always 
inclined  to  the  Westminster  Confession  and  the  tenets  in 
which  her  father's  childhood  had  been  so  rigorously  edu 
cated. 


CHILDHOOD    AND    EARLY   LIFE.  19 

When  about  fifteen  Miss  Carroll  was  sent  to  a  boarding 
school,  at  West  River,  near  Annapolis,  to  pursue  her  studies 
with  Miss  Margaret  Mercer,  an  accomplished  teacher. 

Thomas  King  Carroll,  at  the  same  age,  had  been  sent  to 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  afterward  to  the  law 
school  ;  but  for  this  girl  of  gifts  so  remarkable,  and  of  a 
character  so  decided,  the  best  thing  that  the  world  of  those 
times  offered  was  a  young  ladies'  boarding  school  of  the 
olden  time.  Well  it  was  for  her  and  her  country  that  her 
exceptional  position  as  the  cherished  daughter  of  a  man 
of  such  education  and  talent,  occupied  with  political  affairs, 
secured  for  her  an  education  that  would  otherwise  have 
been  unattainable  to  her. 

However,  she  made  the  best  possible  use  of  such  educa 
tion  as  a  ladylike  school  permitted,  was  noted  for  her  in 
telligence,  and  made  many  friends;  but  her  true  education 
began  and  continued  with  Governor  Carroll  at  home. 

Miss  Carroll  had  early  shown  an  intense  interest  in  moral 
and  religious  questions,  following  her  father's  views  on 
these  subjects.  She  became  interested  in  the  ministrations 
of  Dr.  Robert  J.  Breckenridge,  of  Kentucky,  then  settled 
over  a  Presbyterian  church  in  Baltimore. 

Dr.  Breckenridge  was  the  uncle  of  John  C.  Breckenridge, 
afterward  one  of  the  leading  secessionists,  utterly  opposed 
to  his  uncle  in  political  views,  and  one  of  the  candidates 
for  the  Presidency  in  1860. 

Dr.  Robert  J.  Breckenridge  was  a  valued  friend  of  Gov 
ernor  Carroll. 

Miss  Anna  Ella  became   a  communicant   and    earnest 


20  CORRESPONDENCE. 

member  of  his  church,  and  a  mutual  friendship  arose,  termi 
nated  only  by  the  death  of  the  aged  minister,  who  has  left 
on  record  his  high  appreciation  of  the  mental  abilities  and 
the  great  services  afterward  rendered  by  his  remarkable 
parishioner. 

We  will  give  in  part  two  letters  from  this  excellent  man 
to  Miss  Carroll,  written  from  Kentucky  in  after  years. 
For  want  of  space  we  must  greatly  shorten  them. 

DANVILLE,  KY.  ,  December  6,  1864. 
MY  EXCELLENT  FRIEND  : 

It  is  very  seldom  I  have  read  a  letter  with  more  gratifica 
tion  than  yours  of  November  29th.  Hoxv  kind  it  is  of  you, 
after  so  many  events,  to  remember  me  ;  and  how  many 
people  and  events  and  trials  and  enjoyments,  connected 
with  years  of  labor,  rush  through  my  heart  and  my  brain  as 
you  recall  Maryland  and  Baltimore  so  freshly  and  suddenly 
to  me ;  and  how  noble  is  the  picture  of  a  fine  life,  well 
spent,  which  the  modest  detail  of  some  of  your  efforts 
realizes  to  me.  It  is  no  extravagance,  not  even  a  trace  of 
romance  ;  it  is  a  true  enjoyment,  and  deeply  affecting,  too, 
that  you  give  me  in  what  you  recount  and  what  is  recalled 
thereby.  For  what  is  there  in  our  advanced  life  more 
worthy  of  thankfulness  to  God  than  that  our  former  years 
were  such  that  if  we  remember  them  with  tears  they  are 
tears  of  which  we  need  not  be  ashamed.  My  life  during 
the  almost  twenty  years  since  I  left  Maryland  has  been,  as 
the  preceding  period  had  all  been,  a  s.cene  of  unremitting 
effort  in  very  many  ways  ;  and  now,  if  the  force  of  invinci 
ble  habit  permitted  me  to  live  otherwise,  I  should  hardly 
escape  by  any  other  means  a  solitary  if  not  a  desolate  old 
age.  Solitary,  because  of  a  numerous  family  all,  except 


CORRESPONDENCE.  21 

one  young  son,  are  either  in  the  great  battle  of  life  or  in 
their  graves.  Desolate,  because  the  terrible  curse  which 
marks  our  times  and  desolates  our  country  has  divided  my 
house,  like  thousands  of  others,  and  my  children  literally 
fight  in  opposite  armies  and  my  kindred  and  friends  die 
by  each  other's  hands.  There  is  no  likelihood,  in  my 
opinion,  that  our  Legislature  will  send  me  to  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States ;  and  will  you  wonder  if  I  assure  you 
that  I  have  never  desired  that  they  should.  Was  it  not  a 
purer,  perhaps  a  higher,  ambition  to  prove  that  in  the  most 
frightful  times  and  through  long  years  a  simple  citizen  had 
it  in  his  power  by  his  example,  his  voice  and  his  pen,  by 
courage,  by  disinterestedness,  by  toil,  to  become  a  real 
power  in  the  State  of  himself ;  and  have  not  you,  delicately 
nurtured  woman  as  you  are,  also  cherished  a  similar  ambi 
tion  and  done  a  similar  work,  even  from  a  more  difficult 
position  ?  *  *  *  I  beg  to  be  remembered  in  kind  terms 
to  your  father,  and  that  you  will  accept  the  assurances  of 
my  great  respect  and  esteem. 

ROBERT  J.  BRECKENRIDGE. 

DANVILLE,  KY.,  April  27,  1865. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

*  *  *  You  will  easily  understand  ho\v  much  I  value 
the  good  opinion  you  express  of  my  past  efforts  to  serve 
our  country,  and  of  my  ability  to  serve  it  still  further  ;  and 
it  is  very  kind  of  you  to  report  to  me  with  your  approba 
tion  the  good  opinion  of  others,  whom  to  have  satisfied 
is  in  a  measure  fame.  *  *  *  Many  years  ago,  without 
reserve  and  with  a  perfect  and  irrevocable  consecration,  I 
gave  myself  and  all  I  had  to  Him,  and  have  never,  for  one 
moment,  regretted  that  I  did  so.  The  single  principle  of 
my  existence,  from  that  day  to  this,  has  been  to  do  with 
my  might  what  it  was  given  to  me  to  see  it  was  God's  will 


22  CORRESPONDENCE. 

I  should  do.  You  see,  my  dear  Miss  Carroll,  that  I,  who 
never  sought  anything,  am  not  now  capable  of  seeking 
anything,  nor  even  permitted  to  do  so  ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  I,  who  never  refused  to  undertake  any  duty,  am 
not  allowed  now  to  hesitate,  if  the  Lord  shows  me  the  way, 
nor  permitted  to  refuse  what  my  country  might  demand  of 
me.  This  is  all  I  can  say — all  I  have  cared  to  say  for  nearly 
my  whole  life.  I  would  not  turn  my  hand  over  to  secure 
any  earthly  power  or  distinction.  I  would  not  hesitate  a 
moment  to  lay  down  my  life  to  please  God  or  to  bless  my 
country. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  my  personal  friend  and  habitually  ex 
pressed  sentiments  to  me  which  did  me  the  highest  honor. 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  learn  that  you  propose  to  publish 
annals  of  this  revolution,  and  I  trust  you  will  be  spared 
to  execute  your  purpose. 

Make  my  cordial  salutations  to  your  father  and  accept  the 
assurance  of  my  high  respect  and  esteem. 
Your  friend,  &c., 

R.  J.  BRECKENRIDGE. 


Miss  Carroll  was  very  pleasing,  with  a  fine  and  intelligent 
face,  an  animated  and  cordial  manner,  and  great  life  and 
vivacity,  roused  into  fire  and  enthusiasm  on  any  topic  that 
appealed  to  her  intellect  and  her  sympathies.  Naturally,  in 
so  favorable  a  social  position  and  with  such  gifts,  she  re 
ceived  early  in  life  much  attention  and  had  offers  of  mar 
riage  from  many  distinguished  parties ;  but  she  never 
seemed  inclined  to  change  her  condition  or  to  give  up  the 
beloved  companionship  of  her  father.  A  literary  life  and 
his  congenial  presence  seemed  to  be  all-sufficient  for  her, 
and  she  remained  his  devoted  companion  until  his  death,  in 


EARLY   WRITINGS.  23 

1873,  when  she  also,  the  child  of  his  youth,  was  well  ad 
vanced  in  life. 

After  Governor  Carroll's  term  of  office  had  expired  he 
returned  to  his  estate,  and  shortly  after  he  was  waited  upon 
by  a  deputation,  who  had  been  sent  to  enquire  if  he  would 
accept  a  nomination  as  United  States  Senator.  But  at  that 
time  Mrs.  Carroll  was  dangerously  ill.  His  extensive 
plantation  and  group  of  children  required  his  presence,  and 
he  declined  to  serve.  He  was  devoted  to-his  wife,  and  their 
marriage  was  one  of  unbroken  harmony  until  her  death,  in 
1849.  Governor  Carroll  devoted  himself  thereafter  to  the 
necessities  of  his  family  and  estate. 

Anna  Ella  Carroll  frequently  visited  her  friends  at  Wash 
ington,  and  early  commenced  an  extended  relation  with 
the  press,  writing  usually  anonymously  on  the  political 
subjects  of  the  day.  A  friend  of  her  father,  Thomas  Hicks, 
considered  that  he  owed  his  election  as  Governor  of  Mary 
land  largely  to  the  articles  which  she  contributed  in  his 
favor,  and  he  retained  through  life  a  strong  personal  friend 
ship  and  high  admiration  for  her  intellectual  powers.  At 
his  death  he  left  her  his  papers  and  letters,  to  be  edited  by 
her — a  labor  prevented  by  her  subsequent  illness.  In  1857 
Miss  Carroll  published  a  considerable  work,  entitled  "  The 
Great  American  Battle,"  or  Political  Romanism,  that  being 
the  subject  of  immediate  discussion  at  that  time.  This 
work  was  compiled  from  a  series  of  letters  contributed  by 
her  to  the  press,  and  her  family  knew  nothing  of  the  pro 
ject  until  she  surprised  them  by  the  presentation  of  the 
bound  volume. 


24  EARLY    WRITINGS. 

Old  Sir  Thomas  King  would  certainly  have  been  greatly 
gratified  if  he  could  have  known  how  vigorously  his  great- 
granddaughter  was  to  uphold  the  banner  of  religious  and 
political  freedom.  This  work  was  accompanied  by  an  ex 
cellent  portrait  of  the  authoress  in  the  prime  of  life,  which 
we  here  reproduce  for  our  present  readers. 

In  the  following  year  Miss  Carroll  published  another 
considerable  work,  entitled  "The  Star  of  the  West,"  re 
lating  to  the  exploration  of  our  Western  Territories,  their 
characteristics,  the  origin  of  the  National  claims,  and  our 
duties  towards  our  new  acquisitions,  and  she  urged  the 
building  of  the  Pacific  railroad.  This  seems  to  have  been 
one  of  her  most  popular  works,  as  it  went  through  several 
editions,  and  greatly  extended  her  acquaintance  with  lead 
ing  men. 

The  following  letter,  written  by  the  Hon.  Edward  Bates, 
is  very  descriptive  of  Miss  Carroll  and  evinces  the  admira 
tion  and  esteem  which  she  inspired  among  those  best  fitted 
to  appreciate  her  high  character,  her  uncommon  cultivation, 
and  natural  gifts. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  3,  1863. 
To  Hon.  ISAAC  HAZLEHURST,  of  Philadelphia. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  just  received  a  note  from  Miss 
Anna  Ella  Carroll,  of  Maryland,  informing  me  she  is  going 
to  Philadelphia,  where  she  is  a  comparative  stranger,  and 
desiring  an  introduction  to  some  of  the  eminent  publicists 
of  your  famous  city. 

I  venture  to  present  her  to  you,  sir,  first,  as  an  unques- 


SALE    OF    KINGSTON    HALL.  2$ 

tionable  lady  of  the  highest  personal  standing  and  family 
connection  ;  second,  as  a  person  of  superior  mind,  highly 
cultivated,  especially  in  the  solids  of  American  literature, 
political  history,  and  constitutional  law;  third,  of  strong 
will,  indomitable  courage,  and  patient  labor.  Guided  by 
the  light  of  her  own  understanding,  she  seeks  truth  among 
the  mixed  materials  of  other  minds,  and  having  found  it, 
maintains  it  against  all  obstacles ;  fourth  and  last,  a  writer 
fluent,  cogent,  and  abounding  with  evidence  of  patient  in 
vestigation  and  original  thought. 

I  commend  her  to  your  courtesy,  less  for  the  delicate 
attentions  proper  for  the  drawing  room  than  for  the  higher 
communion  of  congenial  students,  alike  devoted  to  the 
good  of  the  Commonwealth. 

With  the  greatest  respect,  I  remain,  sir,  your  friend  and 
servant. 

EDWARD  BATES. 

As  time  went  on,  Thomas  King  Carroll,  now  advanced 
in  years,  many  of  his  children  married  and  scattered,  began 
to  find  his  estate  and  great  group  of  dependents  a  burden 
some  and  unprofitable  possession. 

Under  a  humane  master,  unwilling  to  sell  his  slaves,  they 
were  apt  to  increase  beyond  the  resources  of  the  plantation 
to  sustain  them.  Ready-money  payment  was  not  the 
general  rule  upon  plantations.  Abundance  of  food  was 
produced,  but  money  was  not  very  plentiful  when  markets 
were  distant  and  trade  very  limited. 

It  was  not  unusual  for  debts  to  accumulate  and  even  to 
be  handed  down  from  father  to  son.  The  creditors  rather 
favored  this  state  of  things,  as  the  debt  drew  interest.  As 
long  as  there  were  plenty  of  slaves,  their  ultimate  payment 


26  SALE    OF    KINGSTON    HALL. 

was  secure  whenever  they  chose  to  press  for  it.  If  the 
money  was  not  then  forthcoming,  their  redress  was  certain — • 
a  descent  followed  of  that  brutal  intermediary,  "  the  nigger 
dealer,"  loathed  and  dreaded  alike  by  master  and  servant. 
A  sufficient  amount  of  the  human  property  was  speedily 
secured  and  driven  off  for  sale  to  satisfy  the  creditor.  To 
the  slave,  torn  from  his  home  and  his  life-long  ties,  it  was 
despair.  To  the  master's  family,  often  a  bitter  grief. 
They  might  shut  themselves  up  and  weep  at  the  outrage, 
but  they  were  powerless  in  the  face  of  an  inexorable  system. 
To  the  master,  therefore,  as  the  slaves  increased,  there 
could  often  be  no  alternative  between  ruthless  sale  and 
financial  ruin.  Thomas  King  Carroll,  honorable,  humane, 
unwilling  to  sell  his  slaves,  immersed  during  the  best  years 
of  his  life  in  political  affairs,  found  in  later  years  his 
burdens  increasing,  and  his  kindness  of  heart  had  involved 
him  also  in  some  especial  difficulties.  He  had  on  several 
occasions  allowed  his  name  to  be  used  as  security  for  friends 
in  difficulty.  Two  or  three  of  these  debts  remained  un 
paid  and  the  responsibility  came  upon  him.  One  especially, 
of  an  unusually  large  amount,  involved  him  in  embarrass 
ment  which  led  him  to  determine  on  the  sale  of  his  planta 
tion.  A  neighbor  and  intimate  friend,  Mr.  Dennis,  was 
desirous  to  purchase,  and  very  sorrowfully  Thomas  King 
Carroll  came  to  the  resolution  to  give  up  his  ancestral 
home.  As  he  was  accustomed  to  say,  he  loved  every  corner 
and  every  stone  upon  the  place,  but  the  burden  had  become 
too  great  for  his  declining  strength. 

The  sale  was  effected  and  Mr.  Carroll  removed  to  Dor- 


CIVIL    WAR.  27 

Chester  county,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Chesapeake,  with 
his  unmarried  children,  and  here  he  died,  in  1873,  in  his 
Both  year. 

Governor  Carroll  is  described  in  the  annals  of  the  State 
as  ''one  of  the  best  men  Maryland  has  ever  produced,"  a 
man  of  character  unsullied  and  of  lofty  integrity. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war  Mr.  Carroll  was 
already  an  elderly  man.  At  first  his  sympathies  were  with 
his  own  section,  but  after  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter  they 
were  steadily  enlisted  for  the  National  cause,  though  he 
foresaw  that  its  triumph  would  lead  to  the  destruction  of 
his  own  fortunes  and  those  of  his  children. 

Most  of  the  slaves  had  been  left  on  the  plantation,  but 
some  had  always  been  considered  the  especial  property  of 
each  of  his  children. 

Thus  Anna  Ella  Carroll  had  her  own  group.  At  the  very 
outset  of  the  war  she  fully  realized  that  slavery  was  at  the 
root  of  the  rebellion,  and  she  at  once  liberated  her  own 
slaves  and  devoted  her  time,  her  pen,  and  all  her  re 
sources  to  the  maintenance  of  the  National  cause.  She  im 
mediately  commenced  a  series  of  writings  of  such  marked 
ability  that  they  speedily  attracted  the  attention  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  and  the  Administration.  Governor  Hicks,  too, 
placed  in  a  situation  of  unusual  difficulty,  turned  to  his 
able  friend  for  consultation  and  for  moral  and  literary  sup 
port. 

Jefferson  Davis,  who  was  aware  of  Miss  Carroll's  great 
literary  and  social  influence,  wrote  to  her  early  in  the  seces 
sion  movement  adjuring  her  to  induce  her  father  to  take 
sides  with  the  South. 


28  CIVIL    WAR. 

"I  will  give  him  any  position  he  asks  for,"  wrote  Mr. 
Davis. 

"Not  if  you  will  give  him  the  whole  South,"  replied 
Miss  Carroll. 

A  visitor  to  her  in  1861  says:  "Her  room  was  lined 
with  military  maps,  her  tables  covered  with  papers  and  war 
documents.  She  would  talk  of  nothing  but  the  war.  Her 
countenance  would  light  up  most  radiantly  as  she  spoke  of 
the  Union  victories  and  the  certainty  that  the  great  Nation 
must  win  an  ultimate  success." 

When  fresh  news  from  the  army  came  in  she  would  step 
up  to  one  of  her  charts  and,  placing  a  finger  on  a  point, 

she  would  say:  "Here  is  General  's  detachment; 

here  is  the  rebel  army  ;  such  and  such  are  the  fortifications 
and  surrounding  circumstances ;  and  she  would  then  begin 
thoughtfully  to  predicate  the  result  and  suggest  the  proper 
move." 

We  will  give  a  sketch  of  the  situation  in  the  early  days 
of  the  secession  movement,  mainly  in  the  words  of  Miss 
Carroll's  own  able  account,  afterwards  published  by  order 
of  Congress. 


List  of  Documents  in  Relation  to  Services  Rendered  by  Anna 
Ella  Carroll,  to  be  Found  in  the  Descriptive  Catalogue 
of  the  Congressional  Library. 


(Descriptive  Catalogue,  page  911.) 

Petition  for  compensation  for  services.     Anna  Blla  Carroll. 
March  31,  1870.     Senate  Mis.  Doc.  No.  100,  4ist  Congress,  2d 


(Catalogue,  page  928.) 

Report  on  memorial  of  Miss  Carroll.  Senator  Howard. 
February  2/1871.  Senate  report  No.  339,  4ist  Congress,  3d 
session. 


(Catalogue,  page  962.) 

Memorial   for  payment  of  services.     June  8,   1872.     Senate 
Mis.  Doc.  No.  167,  42d  Congress,  2d  session,  vol.  II. 


(Catalogue,  page  1058.) 

Petition  for  compensation  for  services.  Anna  Ella  Carroll. 
February  14,  1876.  House  Mis.  Doc.  No.  179,  44th  Congress, 
ist  session,  vol.  IX. 

(29) 


30  LIST    OF    DOCUMENTS. 

(Catalogue,  page  1099.) 

Memorial  of  Anna  Ella  Carroll.     October  22,  1877.     Senate 
Mis.  Doc.  No.  5,  45th  Congress,  ist  session,  vol.  I. 


(Catalogue,  page  1128.) 

House  of  Representatives.  Mis.  Doc.  No.  58,  45th  Congress, 
2d  session.  Claim  of  Anna  Blla  Carroll.  Memorial  of  Anna 
Ella  Carroll,  of  Maryland,  praying  for  compensation  for  services 
rendered  to  the  United  States  during  the  late  civil  war.  May 
18,  1878. 


(Catalogue,  page  1149.) 

Report  on  claim  of  Anna  Ella  Carroll.  Senator  Cockrell 
February  18,  1879.  Senate  Report  No.  775,  45th  Congress,  3d 
session,  vol.  II. 


(Catalogue,  page  1241.) 

Report  of  claim  of  Anna  Ella  Carroll.  Representative  E.  S 
Bragg.  March  3,  iSSi.  House  report  No.  386,  46th  Congress, 
3d  session,  vol.  II. 

NOTE. — Most  of  these  only  to  be  seen  by  consulting  the  bound  volumes  in 
the  Congressional  library. 


(All  the  following  letters,  reports,  etc.,  concerning  Miss 
Carroll's  literary  and  military  services  are  reproduced  from 
these  Congressional  documents.) 


C  PI  AFTER  III. 


RISE     OF     THE     SECESSION      MOVEMENT — THE       CAPITAL     IN 

DANGER MISS     CARROLL'S    LITERARY     LABORS      FOR     THE 

CAUSE     OF     THE     UNION — TESTIMONIALS     FROM     EMINENT 
MEN. 

"  On  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  1860,  the  safety  of 
the  Union  was  felt  to  be  in  peril  and  its  perpetuity  to  de 
pend  on  the  action  of  the  border  slave  States,  and,  from 
her  geographical  position,  especially  on  Maryland. 

In  the  cotton  States  the  Breckenridge  party  had  con 
ducted  the  canvass  on.  the  avowed  position  that  the  elec 
tion  of  a  sectional  President — as  they  were  pleased  to  char 
acterize  Mr.  Lincoln — would  be  a  virtual  dissolution  of  the 
"  compact  of  the  Union  ; ' '  whereupon  it  would  become  the 
duty  of  all  the  Southern  States  to  assemble  in  "  sovereign 
convention  "  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  question 
of  their  separate  independence. 

In  Maryland  the  Breckenridge  electors  assumed  the  same 
position,  and  as  the  Legislature  was  under  the  control  of 
that  party,  it  was  understood  that  could  it  assemble  they 
would  at  once  provide  for  a  convention  for  the  purpose  of 
formally  withdrawing  from  the  Union.  The  sessions,  how 
ever,  were  biennial,  and  could  only  be  convened  by  au 
thority  of  the  Governor.  It  therefore  seemed  for  the 
time  that  the  salvation  of  the  Union  was  in  the  hands  of 

(30 


32  RISE    OF    THE    SECESSION    MOVEMENT. 

Governor  Hicks.  Although  he  had  opposed  the  election  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  all  his  sympathies  were  on  the  side  of 
slavery,  his  strong  point  was  devotion  to  the  Union.  With 
this  conviction,  founded  upon  long  established  friendship, 
Miss  Carroll  believed  she  might  render  some  service  to  her 
country,  and  took  her  stand  with  him  at  once  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Union,  come  weal  or  woe  to  the  institu 
tion  of  slavery. 

Governor  Hicks  had  been  elected  some  three  years  be 
fore  as  the  candidate  of  the  American  party,  and  to  the 
publications  Miss  Carroll  had  contributed  to  that  canvass 
he  largely  attributed  his  election.  It  was  therefore  nat 
ural  that  when  entering  on  the  fierce  struggle  for  the  preser 
vation  of  the  Union,  with  the  political  and  social  powers 
of  the  State  arrayed  against  him,  that  he  should  desire  what 
ever  aid  it  might  be  in  her  power  to  render  him. 

A  few  days  after  the  Presidential  election  Miss  Carroll 
wrote  Governor  Hicks  upon  the  probable  designs  of  the 
Southern  leaders  should  the  cotton  States  secede,  and  sug 
gested  the  importance  of  not  allowing  a  call  for  the  Legis 
lature  to  be  made  a  question.  That  she  might  be  in  a 
position  to  make  her  services  more  effective,  she  repaired 
to  Washington  on  the  meeting  of  Congress  in  December, 
and  soon  understood  that  the  Southern  leaders  regarded  the 
dissolution  of  the  Union  as  accomplished. 

The  leading  disunionists  from  Maryland  and  Virginia 
were  on  the  ground  in  consultation  with  the  secession  lead 
ers  in  Congress,  and  the  emissaries  from  the  cotton  States 
soon  made  their  appearance,  when  it  was  resolved  to  make 


RISE    OF    THE    SECESSION    MOVEMENT.  33 

Maryland  the  base  of  their  operations  and  bring  her  into 
the  line  of  the  seceding  States  before  the  power  of  the 
Democratic  party  had  passed  away,  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1861. 

Hence  every  agency  that  wickedness  could  invent  was 
industriously  manufacturing  public  opinion  in  Baltimore 
and  all  parts  of  the  State  to  coerce  Governor  Hicks  to  con 
vene  the  Legislature. 

With  Maryland  out  of  the  Union  they  expected  to  in 
augurate  their  Southern  Confederacy  in  the  Capitol  of  the 
United  States  on  the  expiration  of  President  Buchanan's 
term,  on  the  4th  of  March,  and  by  divesting  the  North  of 
the  seat  of  Government  and  retaining  possession  of  the 
public  buildings  and  archives,  they  calculated  with  great 
confidence  upon  recognition  of  national  independence  by 
European  powers.  About  the  middle  of  December  Miss 
Carroll  communicated  to  Governor  Hicks  their  designs  on 
Maryland  and  suggested  the  propriety  of  a  public  announce 
ment  of  his  unalterable  determination  to  hold  Maryland  to 
the  Union. 

After  his  address  on  the  3d  of  January,  1861,  resolutions 
and  letters  from  men  and  women  endorsing  his  cause  were 
received  from  Maryland  and  from  all  quarters  of  the  United 
States. 

Governor  Hicks  at  that  time  was  willing  to  abide  by  any 
terms  of  settlement  that  would  save  a  conflict  between  the 
sections.  He  favored  the  compromise  proposed  by  the 
border  States  committee,  that  slavery  should  not  be  for 
bidden,  either  by  Federal  or  territorial  legislation,  south  of 
3C 


34  R!SE    OF   THE    SECESSION    MOVEMENT. 

36°  30',  and  he  was  strongly  inclined  to  base  his  action 
on  the  acceptance  or  rejection  of  the  Crittenden  resolutions 
by  Congress. 

On.  the  iQth  of  January,  1861,  he  urged  Miss  Carroll  to 
exert  whatever  influence  she  was  able  to  induce  Congress 
to  adopt  some  measure  of  pacification  ;  but  she  was  soon 
satisfied  that  no  compromise  that  Congress  would  adopt 
would  be  accepted  by  the  cotton  States,  and,  perceiving  the 
danger  should  the  Governor  commit  himself  to  any  im 
possible  condition,  informed  him  on  the  24th  of  January 
that  the  Crittenden  proposition  would  by  no  possibility 
receive  the  sanction  of  Congress. 

All  efforts  to  move  the  steadfastness  of  the  Governor 
having  failed,  the  President  of  the  Senate  and  Speaker  of 
the  House  of  Delegates  issued  ..their  call  to  the  people  to 
act  independently  of  him  and  elect  delegates  to  a  conven 
tion.  This  was  a  most  daring  and  dangerous  proceeding, 
and  had  the  plan  succeeded  and  a  convention  assembled 
they  would  immediately  have  deposed  the  Governor  and 
passed  an  ordinance  of  secession.  The  Governor  was 
powerless  in  such  an  emergency  to  defend  the  State  against 
the  revolutionary  body,  as  the  State  militia  were  on  their 
side  and  Mr.  Buchanan  had  declared  that  the  National 
Government  could  not  coerce  a  sovereign  State. 

The  gravity  of  the  situation  was  appreciated  by  the  Gov 
ernor  and  the  friends  of  the  Union.  Miss  Carroll  addressed 
articles  through  the  press  and  wrote  many  letters  to  prepare 
the  public  mind  in  Maryland  for  the  struggle.  Fortunately 
the  people  (thus  warned)  failed  to  endorse  this  call ;  conse- 


THE    CAPITAL    IN    DANGER.  35 

quently  the  leading  statesmen  of  the  disunion  party  aban 
doned  their  cherished  expectation  of  inaugurating  their 
Government  in  the  National  Capitol. 

Many  of  the  conspirators,  however,  still  sought  to  seize 
Washington  and  forcibly  prevent  the  inauguration  of  the 
President  elect  on  the  4th  of  March.  The  military  organi 
zations  of  the  South  were  deemed  sufficient  for  the  enter 
prise,  and  a  leader  trained  in  the  wars  of  Texas  was  solic 
ited  to  lead  them.  The  more  sagacious  of  their  party, 
however,  discountenanced  the  mad  scheme.  They  assured 
Miss  Carroll  that  no  attempt  would  be  made  to  seize  the 
Capitol  and  prevent  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  so 
long  as  Maryland  remained  in  the  Union. 

The  ruthless  assault  upon  the  Massachusetts  troops  in 
Baltimore,  as  they  were  passing  through  on  their  way  to 
Washington,  on  the  iQth  of  April,  with  the  antecedent  and 
attendant  circumstances,  roused  to  the  highest  degree  the 
passions  of  all  who  sympathized  with  the  secession  move 
ment,  and  the  rnob  became  for  the  time  being  the  con 
trolling  force  of  that  city.  So  largely  in  the  ascendant 
was  it  and  so  confident  were  the  disunionists  in  conse 
quence  that  they,  without  warrant  of  law,  assumed  the 
responsibility  of  issuing  a  call  for  the  Legislature  of  Mary 
land  to  convene  in  Baltimore.  Governor  Hicks,  fearing 
that  the  Legislature  would  respond  to  the  call,  and  that  if 
it  did  it  would  yield  to  the  predominant  spirit,  give  voice 
to  the  purpose  of  the  mob,  and  adopt  an  act  of  secession, 
resolved  to  forestall  such  action  by  convening  that  body 
to  meet  at  Frederick  City,  away  from  the  violent  and  men 
acing  demonstrations  of  Baltimore. 


36  THE    CAPITAL    IN    DANGER. 

The  Legislature  thus  assembled  contained  a  number  of 
leading  members  who  were  ready  at  once  for  unconditional 
secession.  There  were  also  others  who,  with  them,  would 
constitute  a  majority  and  would  vote  for  the  measure  could 
they  be  sustained  by  public  sentiment,  but  who  were  not 
prepared  to  give  that  support  without  that  assurance.  The 
field  of  conflict  was,  therefore,  transferred  from  the  halls 
of  legislation  to  the  State  at  large,  and  to  the  homes  of  their 
constituents,  and  there  the  battle  raged  during  the  sum 
mer  of  1 86 1.  In  that  conflict  of  ideas  Miss  Carroll  bore 
an  earnest  and  prominent  part,  and  the  most  distinguished 
men  have  given  repeated  evidence  that  her  labors  were 
largely  instrumental  in  thwarting  the  secessionists  and  sav 
ing  Maryland  to  the  Union.  The  objective  point  of  the 
labors  of  the  disunion  leaders  was  a  formal  act  of  seces 
sion,  by  which  Maryland  would  become  an  integral  portion 
of  the  Confederacy,  not  only  affording  moral  and  material 
aid  to  the  Southern  cause,  but  relieving  the  rebel  armies 
in  crossing  the  Potomac  from  the  charge,  which  at  that 
stage  of  the  conflict  the  leaders  were  anxious  to  avoid,  of 
ignoring  their  vaunted  doctrine  of  State  rights  by  invading 
the  territory  of  sovereign  States.  With  the  usual  argu 
ments  that  were  urged  to  fire  the  Southern  heart  and  to 
reconcile  the  people  to  the  extreme  remedy  of  revolution, 
special  prominence  was  given  to  what  was  stigmatized  as 
the  abitrary  and  unconstitutional  acts  of  President  Lincoln. 
To  place  the  people  in  possession  of  the  true  theory  of 
their  institutions  and  to  define  and  defend  the  war  powers 
of  the  Government  were  the  special  purposes  of  Miss  Car 
roll's  labors  during  these  eventful  months." 


LITERARY    LABORS.  37 

It  would  not  be  possible  in  the  compass  of  this  paper  to 
set  forth  circumstantially  all  the  important  questions  that 
arose  in  the  progress  of  the  war,  in  the  discussion  of  which 
Miss  Carroll  took  part ;  but  it  is  proper  to  say  that  on 
every  material  issue,  from  the  inception  of  the  rebellion  to 
the  final  reconstruction  of  the  seceded  States,  she  contrib 
uted  through  the  newspapers,  in  pamphlet  form,  and  by  pri 
vate  correspondence  to  the  discussion  of  important  sub 
jects.  Governor  Hicks  bore  the  brunt  of  this  terrible 
conflict,  greatly  aided  by  Miss  Carroll's  public  and  private 
support,  and  stimulated  by  such  inspiring  letters  as  the 
following : 

WASHINGTON  HOUSE, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  Jan.  16,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  GOVERNOR  : 

I  have  for  some  days  intended  to  write  and  express  my 
cordial  admiration  and  gratitude  for  the  noble  stand  you 
have  now  taken  in  behalf  of  the  Union  by  the  public  ad 
dress  issued  on  the  3d  instant.  An  extended  relation  with 
the  leading  presses  of  the  country  has  enabled  me  in  a  pub 
lic  and  more  efficient  manner  to  testify  to  this  and  create 
a  public  opinion  favorable  to  your  course  of  patriotic  action 
throughout  the  land.  Many  of  the  articles  you  have  seen 
emanated  from  this  source. 

I  feel  it  will  be  a  gratification  to  you,  in  the  high  and 
sacred  responsibilities  which  surround  your  position,  to 
know  from  one  who  is  incapable  of  flattering  or  deceiving 
you  the  opinion  privately  held  in  this  metropolis  concern 
ing  your  whole  course  since  the  secession  movement  in  the 
South  was  practically  initiated. 


38  TESTIMONIALS. 

With  all  the  friends  of  the  Union  with  whom  I -converse, 
without  regard  to  section  or  party,  your  course  elicits  the 
most  unbounded  applause.  I  might  add  to  this  the  evi 
dences  furnished  from  private  correspondence,  but  you 
doubtless  feel  already  the  sympathy  and  moral  support  to 
be  derived  in  this  way.  I  am  often  asked  if  I  think  you 
can  continue  to  stand  firm  under  the  frightful  pressure 
brought  to  bear  upon  you.  I  answer,  yes  ;  that  my  per 
sonal  knowledge  enables  me  to  express  the  confident  belief 
that  nothing  will  ever  induce  you  to  surrender  while  the 
oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  your  country  and  the 
vow  to  fulfill  the  obligations  of  your  God  rest  upon  your 
soul. 

As  a  daughter  of  Maryland,  I  am  proud  to  have  her  des 
tiny  in  the  hands  of  one  so  worthy  of  her  ancient  great 
name  ;  one  who  will  never  betray  the  sacred  trust  imposed 
upon  him.  "  When  God  is  for  us,  no  man  can  be  against 
us,"  is  the  Christian's  courage  when  the  day  of  trial  comes. 

I  shall  continue  to  fight  your  battle  to  the  end. 
Your  sincere  friend, 

A.  E.   CARROLL. 

Well  might  Governor  Hicks  say  to  her  again  and  again, 
as  in  a  letter  to  her  in  1863  :  "  Your  moral  and  material 
support  I  shall  never  forget  in  that  trying  ordeal,  such  as 
no  other  man  in  this  country  ever  went  through." 

A  little  further  on,  Governor  Hicks  writes  as  follows : 

ANNAPOLIS,  MD.,  December  17,  1861. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

In  the  hurry  and  excitement  incident  to  closing  my  of 
ficial  relations  to  the  State  of  Maryland  I  cannot  find  fitting 


TESTIMONIALS.  39 

words  to  express  my  high  sense  of  gratitude  to  you  for  the 
kind  and  feeling  manner  in  which  you  express  your  ap 
proval  of  my  whole  term  of  service  in  doing  all  in  my 
power  to  uphold  the  honor  and  dignity  of  the  State  ;  but 
especially  do  I  thank  you  for  the  personal  aid  you  rendered 
me  in  the  last  part  of  my  arduous  duties. 

When  all  was  dark  and  dreadful  for  Maryland's  future, 
when  the  waves  of  secession  were  beating  furiously  upon 
your  frail  executive,  borne  down  with  private  as  well  as 
public  grief,  you  stood  nobly  by  and  watched  the  storm 
and  skillfully  helped  to  work  the  ship,  until,  thank  God, 
helmsmen  and  crew  were  safe  in  port. 

*  *  #  *  *  * 

With  great  regard,  I  have  the  honor  to  be  ever  your 
obedient  friend  and  servant. 

T.  H.  HICKS. 


Thus  it  was  that,  supported  by  Miss  Carroll,  this  high- 
minded  and  sorely  tried  man  held  fast  to  the  end. 
He  went  into  the  struggle  a  rich  man,  in  a  position 
of  worldly  honor  and  prosperity.  He  came  out  of  it 
reduced  in  prosperity,  having,  like  other  faithful  Southern 
Unionists,  lost  his  worldly  possessions  in  that  great  up 
heaval.  Thenceforth  he  lived,  and  he  died,  comparatively 
a  poor  man,  but  one  of  the  noble  and  faithful  who  had 
acted  an  immortal  part  in  the  salvation  of  his  country.  All 
honor  to  brave  and  true-hearted  Governor  Hicks  of  Mary 
land  ! 

Thus  by  her  powerful  advocacy  and  influence  Miss  Car 
roll  largely  contributed  to  securing  the  State  of  Maryland 
to  the  Union  and  saving  the  National  Capital,  and  her 


4O  TESTIMONIALS. 

writings  also  had  a  great  effect  upon  the  border  States, 
Besides  her  numerous  letters  and  newspaper  articles,  she 
began  writing  and  publishing,  at  her  own  expense,  a  re 
markable  series  of  war  pamphlets,  which  speedily  became 
an  important  element  in  the  guidance  of  the  country. 

vSenator  John  C.  Breckenridge,  in  the  July  Congress  of 
1 86 1,  made  a  notable  secession  speech.  Miss  Carroll  re 
plied  to  this  in  a  pamphlet  containing  such  clear  and  power 
ful  arguments  that  the  War  Department  circulated  a  large 
edition,  and  requested  her  to  write  on  other  important 
points  then  being  discussed  with  great  diversity  of  opinion. 

The  following  letters  give  some  indication  of  the  timely 
nature  and  value  of  the  Breckenridge  pamphlet : 

MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL: 

Your  refutation  of  the  sophistries  of  Senator  Brecken- 
ridge's  speech  is  full  and  conclusive.  I  trust  this  reply  may 
have  an  extended  circulation  at  the  present  time,  as  I 
am  sure  its  perusal  by  the  people  will  do  much  to  aid  the 
cause  of  the  Constitution  and  the  Union. 

CALEB  B.  SMITH.* 


GLOBE  OFFICE,  Aug.  8,  1861. 
DEAR  Miss  CARROLL: 

Allow  me  to  thank  you  for  the  privilege  of  reading  your 
admirable  review  of  Mr.  Breckenridge's  speech.  I  have 
enjoyed  it  greatly.  Especially  have  I  been  struck  with  its 
very  ingenious  and  just  exposition  of  the  constitutional 

*  Caleb  B.  Smith  was  Secretary  of  Interior  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  Cabinet  and 
an  old  friend  of  Miss  Carroll. 


TESTIMONIALS.  41 

law  bearing  on  the  President,  assailed  by  Mr.  B.,  and  with 
the  very  apt  citation  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion  as  to  the 
necessity  and  propriety  of  disregarding  mere  legal  punctilio 
when  the  source  of  all  is  in  danger  of  destruction.  The 
gradual  development  of  the  plot  in  the  South  to  over 
throw  the  Union  is  also  exceedingly  well  depicted  and 
with  remarkable  clearness.  If  spoken  in  the  Senate  your 
article  would  have  been  regarded  by  the  country  as  a  com 
plete  and  masterly  refutation  of  Mr.  B.'s  heresies.  Though 
the  peculiar  position  of  the  Globe  might  preclude  the  pub 
lication  of  the  review,  I  am  glad  that  it  has  not  been  denied 
to  the  editor  of  the  Globe  to  enjoy  what  the  Globe  itself 
has  not  been  privileged  to  contain. 

I  remain,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

SAM'L  T.  WILLIAMS.* 


September  21,  1861. 
DEAR  Miss  ,  CARROLL  : 

I  have  this  moment,  n  o'clock  Saturday  night,  finished 
reading  your  most  admirable  reply  to  the  speech  of  Mr. 
Breckenridge  ;  and  now,  my  dear  lady,  I  have  only  time 
to  thank  you  for  taking  the  trouble  to  embody  for  the  use 
of  others  so  much  sound  constitutional  doctrine  and  so  many 
valuable  historic  facts  in  a  form  so  compact  and  manage 
able.  The  President  received  a  copy  left  for  him  and  re 
quested  me  to  thank  you  cordially  for  your  able  support. 

The  delay  was  not  voluntary  on  my  part.  For  some 
time  past  my  time  and  mind  have  been  painfully  engrossed 
by  very  urgent  public  duties,  and  my  best  affections  stirred 
by  the  present  condition  of  Missouri,  my  own  neglected 

*  Samuel  T.  Williams  was  at  that  time  chief  editor  of  the  Globe  (the 
Congressional  Record  of  the  day)  and  son-in-law  of  Mr.  Rives,  the  owner 
of  the  Globe. 


42  TESTIMONIALS. 

and  almost  ruined  State ;  and  this  is  the  reason  why  I  have 
been  so  long  deprived  of  the  pleasure  and  instruction  of 
perusing  your  excellent  pamphlet. 

I  remain,  with  great  respect  and  regard,  your  friend  and 
obedient  servant, 

EDWARD  BATES. * 


APPLEBY,  Sept.  22,  1861. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL: 

I  will  thank  you  very  much  if  you  will  send  me  a  couple 
of  hundred  copies  of  your  reply  to  Breckenridge,  with  bill 
of  expenses  for  the  same.  I  do  not  think  it  is  right  that 
you  should  furnish  your  publications  gratis  any  longer.  I 
told  our  friends  in  Baltimore  last  week  that  the  Union  State 
Committee  must  go  to  work  and  send  your  documents  over 
the  entire  State  if  they  expect  to  carry  this  election.  Mr. 
Mayer  and  Mr.  Fickey,  of  the  committee,  said  they  would 
make  application  to  you  immediately  and  pay  for  all  you 
can  supply. 

No  money  can  ever  pay  for  what  you  have  done  for  the 
State  and  the  country  in  this  terrible  crisis,  but  I  trust 
and  believe  ihe  time  will  come  when  all  will  know  the  debt 
they  owe  you. 

With  great  respect,  your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

THOS.  H.  HICKS. 


BALTIMORE,  Oct.  2,  1861. 
Miss  CARROLL  : 

If  you  could  let  me  have  more  of  your  last  pamphlet  in 
answer  to  Breckenridge,  I  could  use  them  with  great  effect. 

*  Edward  Bates  was  the  Attorney  General  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Cabinet  and 
an  intimate  friend  of  Miss  Carroll. 


TESTIMONIALS.  43 

I  have  distributed  from  .my  house  on  Camden  street  all  the 
committee  could  furnish  me.  I  set  my  son  at  the  door 
with  paper  and  pencil,  and  five  hundred  men  called  for  it 
in  one  day.  These  are  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  city, 
wanting  to  know  which  army  to  enter.  Please  send  as 
many  as  you  can  spare.  They  go  like  hot  cakes. 
Yours  very  respectfully, 

JAMES  TILGHMAN. 


A.  S.  Diven,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  January 
22,  1862  : 

"She  signs  herself  Anna  Ella  Carroll.  I  commend  her 
answer  on  the  doctrine  of  the  war  power  to  those  who  have 
been  following  that  phantom  and  misleading  the  people, 
and  I  recommend  it  to  another  individual,  a  friend  of  mine, 
who  gave  a  most  learned  disquisition  on  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  and  against  the  power  of  the  President  to  imprison 
men.  He  will  find  that  answered.  I  am  not  surprised  at 
this.  The  French  Revolution  discovered  great  political 
minds  in  some  of  the  French  women,  and  I  am  happy  to 
see  a  like  development  in  our  women." 

Judge  Diven  subsequently  addressed  the  following  letter 
to  Miss  Carroll : 

WASHINGTON,  February  9,  1862. 

I  thank  you  for  the  note  of  the  6th.  Your  pamphlet  I 
have  read  with  satisfaction,  as  I  had  your  former  publica 
tion.  I  have  no  desire  to  appear  complimentary,  but  can 
not  forbear  the  expression  of  my  admiration  of  your  writ- 


44  TESTIMONIALS. 

ings.  There  is  a  cogency  in  your  argument  that  I  have 
seldom  met  with.  Such  maturity  of  judicial  learning  with 
so  comprehensive  and  concise  a  style  of  communication 
surprises  me.  Ladies  have  certainly  seldom  evinced  ability 
as  jurists — it  may  be  because  the  profession  was  not  their 
sphere — but  you  have  satisfied  me  that  at  least  one  might 
have  been  a  distinguished  lawyer.  Go  on,  madam,  in  aid 
ing  the  cause  to  which  you  have  devoted  your  talent;  your 
country  needs  the  labor  of  all  her  defenders.  If  the  time 
will  ever  come  when  men  will  break  away  from  passion  and 
return  to  reason  your  labors  will  be  appreciated ;  unless 
that  time  soon  arrives,  alas  for  this  Republic ;  I  have  al 
most  despaired  of  the  wisdom  of  men.  God's  ways  are 
mysterious,  and  my  trust  in  Him  is  left  me  as  a  ground  of 
hope. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  madam,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  S.  DIVEN.* 


BALTIMORE,  May  9,  1874. 
Miss  CARROLL  : 

After  the  Presidential  election  in  1860  a  Union  Associa 
tion  was  formed  in  Baltimore  and  I  was  elected  chairman, 
which  position  I  held  until  the  Union  party  was  formed 
in  Maryland  in  1861,  when  Brantz  Mayer  was  made  chair 
man  and  I  was  appointed  treasurer,  and  held  the  position 
until  1863.  We  commenced  at  once  to  circulate  your  pub 
lications  and  sent  them  broadcast  over  the  entire  State. 

When  we  appealed  to  you,  you  furnished  them  most  lib 
erally,  and  to  our  surprise  and  the  relief  of  our  treasury  you 
informed  us  you  made  no  charge. 

All  were  disposed  to  give  your  articles  a  careful  perusal, 

*  A.  S.  Diven  was  Member  of  Congress  from  New  York,  a  railroad  man, 
and,  I  think,  is  still  living. 


TESTIMONIALS  45 

and  many  instances  came  to  my  knowledge  of  the  great 
positive  good  they  effected  in  keeping  men  within  the 
Union  party  when  the  first  blow  of  secession  had  been 
struck. 

FRED.   FICKEY,  JR. 


May  is,  1862. 

I  have  never  read  an  abler  or  more  conclusive  paper  than 
your  war-power  document  in  all  my  reading.     *     *     * 

RICHARD  S.  COXE.* 


WASHINGTON,  May  22,  1862. 

I  most  cheerfully  indorse  the  papers  respecting  your  pub 
lications  under  the  authority  of  the  War  Department.  Mr. 
Richard  S.  Coxe,  I  can  say,  is  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers 
in  this  District  or  in  the  country.  In  his  opinion  of  your 
writings  I  entirely  concur  as  with  other  men  who  have  ex 
pressed  one/  I  regret  that  I  am  without  the  influence  to 
serve  you  at  the  War  Department,  but  Mr.  Lincoln,  with 
whom  1  have  conversed,  has,  I  know,  the  highest  apprecia 
tion  of  your  services  in  this  connection.  Judge  Collamer, 
whom  I  regard  as  among  the  first  of  living  statesmen  and 
patriots,  is  enthusiastic  in  praise  of  your  publications,  and, 
indeed,  I  have  heard  but  one  opinion  expressed  by  all  the 
able  men  who  have  referred  to  them. 
Sincerely  yours, 

R.  J.  WALKER. f 

*  Richard  S.  Coxe  was  a  very  eminent  lawyer  from  the  District  of  Colum 
bia. 

fR.  J.  Walker  was  long  a  Representative  in  Congress,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  under  James  K.  Polk,  and  was  acknowledged  as  the  best  financier 
of  his  day. 


46  TESTIMONIALS. 

In  September  of  1861  Miss  Carroll  prepared  a  paper  on 
"  the  Constitutional  powers  of  the  President  to  make  arrests 
and  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus"  In  December, 
1 86 1,  she  published  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  The  War  Powers 
of  the  Government."  This  was  followed  by  a  paper  en 
titled  "  The  Relation  of  Revolted  Citizens  to  the  National 
Government."  This  was  written  at  the  especial  request  of 
President  Lincoln,  approved  by  him,  and  adopted  as  the 
basis  of  his  subsequent  action. 

WASHINGTON,  January  25,  1861. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

I  read  the  address  of  Governor  Hicks,  which  gave  me 
great  pleasure.  I  have  been  overwhelmed  with  work  and 
anxiety  for  North  Carolina.  I  franked  all  the  papers  you 
sent  me.  It  is  a  great  matter  for  the  Union  that  you  hold 
Maryland  firm  now. 

Go  on  in  your  great  work.    I  wish  you  would  say  a  word 

for  S in  some  of  your  articles  ;  he  is  doing  us  good, 

but  needs  encouragement. 

I  wish  to  talk  with  you  on  these  matters  as  soon  as  I  can 
find  a  moment. 

Respectfully  and  sincerely  your  friend, 

JOHN  A.  GILMER.* 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  March  n,  1861. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL: 

I  will  be  pleased  to  see  you  to-morrow,  any  time  con 
venient  to  yourself,  after  nine  o'clock.  I  am  not  seeing 

*John  A.  Gilmer  was  Member  of  Congress  from  North  Carolina,  bxtt  a 
Union  man  throughout  the  war. 


TESTIMONIALS.  47 

any  one  just  yet  on  the  matter  to  which  you  refer,  but,  of 
course,  will  see  you.  You  have  my  grateful  thanks  for  the 
great  and  patriotic  services  you  have  rendered  and  are  still 
rendering  to  the  country  in  this  crisis. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  friend  and  servant, 

S.   P.   CHASE.* 


WASHINGTON  CITY,  April  75,  1862. 
MY  DEAR  LADY  : 

I  thank  you  for  sending  me  the  last  number  of  your  able 
essays  in  the  New  York  Times.  The  President  paid  you 
a  very  handsome  compliment  in  the  Cabinet  meeting  yes 
terday,  in  reference  to  your  usefulness  to  the  country. 
He  handed  your  views  on  colonization  and  the  proper 
point  to  initiate  the  colony,  which  he  said  he  had  requested 
of  you,  to  Secretary  Smith,  and  said  you  had  given  him 
a  better  insight  into  the  whole  question  than  any  one  beside, 
and  you  had,  on  his  inquiry,  suggested  the  Interior  De 
partment  as  proper  to  look  after  the  matter,  and  advised  the 
Secretary  to  get  into  communication  with  you.  This  was 
no  more  than  your  desert,  but,  coming  from  the  President 
in  Cabinet  meeting,  it  was  as  gratifying  to  me  to  hear  as  it 
is  now  to  communicate  this  to  you. 

With  great  regard,  your  obedient  servant, 

EDWARD  BATES. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  May  13,  1862. 
Miss  CARROLL  : 

I  send  a  package  by  your  servant  which  came  here 
yesterday,  I  suppose,  as  I  had  the  honor  to  frank  some  01 
your  documents  from  here.  If  you  will  excuse  my  poor 

*  Salmon  P.  Chase  was  U.  S.  Senator,  Governor  of  Ohio,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  Chief  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court. 


48  TESTIMONIALS. 

writing  I  will  tell  you  what  Mr.   Lincoln  said  about  you 
last  night. 

I  was  there  with  some  seven  or  eight  members  of  Con 
gress  and  others,  when  a  note  and  box  came  from  you  with 
products  from  Central  America.  He  seemed  much  de 
lighted  and  read  your  letter  out  to  us  and  showed  the  con 
tents  of  the  box.  He  said,  "  This  Anna  Ella  Carroll  is  the 
head  of  the  Carroll  race.  When  the  history  of  this  war 
is  written  she  will  stand  a  good  bit  taller  than  ever  old 
Charles  Carroll  did."  I  thought  you  might  like  to  hear 
this. 

WM.  MITCHELL. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  p,  1863. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

I  have  read  with  great  pleasure  the  manuscript  left  with 
me.  Like  all  that  emanates  from  your  pen,  it  is  profound 
and  able,  and  I  concur  with  you  that  its  publication  would 
now  be  timely.  As  you  requested,  I  forward  the  package 
to  New  York. 

Very  sincerely  and  respectfully  your  friend, 

S.  P.  CHASE. 


The  Hon.  B.  F.  Wade  (then  President  of  the  United 
States  Senate)  writes  from  Washington  : 

March  I,  1869. 
Miss  CARROLL  : 

I  cannot  take  leave  of  public  life  without  expressing  my 
deep  sense  of  your  services  to  the  country  during  the  whole 
period  of  our  national  troubles.  Although  the  citizen  of  a 
State  almost  unanimously  disloyal  and  deeply  sympathizing 
with  secession,  especially  the  wealthy  and  aristocratic  class 
of  the  people,  to  which  you  belonged,  yet,  in  the  midst  of 


TESTIMONIALS.  49 

such  surroundings,  you  emancipated  your  own  slaves  at  a 
great  sacrifice  of  personal  interest,  and  with  your  powerful 
pen  defended  the  cause  of  the  Union  and  loyalty  as  ably 
and  effectively  as  it  ever  has  been  defended. 

From  my  position  on  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of 
the  War  I  know  that  some  of  the  most  successful  expedi 
tions  of  the  war  were  suggested  by  you,  among  which  I 
might  instance  the  expedition  up  the  Tennessee  river. 

The  powerful  support  you  gave  Governor  Hicks  during 
the  darkest  hour  of  your  State  history  prompted  him  to 
take  and  maintain  the  stand  he  did,  and  thereby  saved 
your  State  from  secession  and  consequent  ruin. 

All  these  things,  as  well  as  your  unremitted  labors  in  the 
cause  of  reconstruction,  I  doubt  not  are  well  known  and 
remembered  by  the  members  of  Congress  at  that  period. 
I  also  well  know  in  what  high  estimation  your  services  were 
held  by  President  Lincoln,  and  I  cannot  leave  this  subject 
without  sincerely  hoping  that  the  Government  may  yet 
confer  on  you  some  token  of  acknowledgment  for  all 
these  services  and  sacrifices. 

Very  sincerely,  your  friend,  B.  F.  WADE. 


BALTIMORE,  September  28,  1869. 

I  have  known  Miss  Carroll  many  years  ;  she  is  a  daughter 
of  Governor  Carroll,  and  by  birth  and  education  entitled 
to  the  highest  consideration. 

She  writes  exceedingly  well,  and  during  the  late  war 
published  several  pamphlets,  etc.,  which  I  have  no  doubt 
proved  most  serviceable  to  the  cause  of  the  Union.  Her 
own  loyalty  was  ardent  and  constant  through  the  struggle. 

REVERDY  JOHNSON.* 

*  Reverdy  Johnson — a  distinguished  lawyer  from  Maryland,  U.  S.  Senator, 
Attorney  General  in  Tnylor's  Cabinet,  and  Minister  to  England  during 
Johnson's  Administration. 

4C 


50  TESTIMONIALS. 

DAYTON,  Nov.  23,  1869. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

Your  letter  finds  me  in  the  midst  of  care,  labor,  and  prep 
aration  for  removal  to  Washington. 

Pardon  me,  therefore,  if  I  write  briefly.  You  must  see 
me  when  the  session  of  Congress  commences,  that  I  may 
say  much  for  which  there  is  not  space  or  time  on  paper. 
Nobody  appreciates  more  highly  than  I  do  your  patriotism 
and  your  valuable  services  with  mind  and  pen  through  so 
many  years. 

Yours  faithfully  and  truly, 

ROBERT  C.  SCHENCK.* 


LONDON,  E.  C., ////>'  jo,  1872. 
DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

I  have  read  with  pleasure  the  pamphlet  you  were  so  kind 
as  to  send  me,  and  am  glad  to  see  that  your  claim  is  so 
strongly  endorsed — 30  strongly  that  it  can  hardly  be 
ignored  by  Congress. 

Very  truly  yours, 

H.    McCoLLOCH.f 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  January  20,  1873. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL: 

I  owe  you  an  humble  apology  for  not  calling  to  pay  my 
respects  to  you,  as  I  intended  to  do;  but  I  have  been  so  oc 
cupied  with  numerous  engagements  that  the  purpose  indi 
cated  escaped  my  recollection  until  I  was  on  the  point  of 
leaving  for  my  home  in  Connecticut,  and  can  only  now 

*  Robert  C.  Schenck — General  through  the  war,  Member  of  Congress,  and 
Minister  to  England. 

f  Hugh  S.  McCulloch  was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under  Lincoln,  John 
son,  and  Arthur. 


TESTIMONIALS.  5  1 

proffer  to   you  my  cordial  and  heartfelt   wishes  for  your 
health,  prosperity,  and  happiness. 

I  have  too  much  respect  for  your  name  and  character  to 
address  you  in  the  accents  of  flattery,  and  I  presume  you 
will  not  suspect  me  of  any  such  purpose  when  I  say  that  of 
the  many  characters,  both  male  and  female,  of  whom  I 
have  formed  a  favorable  opinion  since  I  was  introduced 
into  public  life,  there  is  no  one  for  whom  I  cherish  a  higher 
esteem  than  Miss  Carroll,  of  Maryland. 

May  the  richest  of  Heaven's  blessings  rest  upon  your 
ladyship,  and  may  the  inappreciable  services  which  you 
rendered  your  country  in  the  dark  hour  of  its  peril  be 
recognized  by  your  countrymen,  and  to  a  just  extent 
rewarded. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  and  to  remain,  my  dear  Miss 
Carroll,  most  faithfully  and  truly  your  friend, 

TRUMAN  SMITH.* 


GREENSBURG,  PA.,  May  3, 
Miss  CARROLL  : 

I  do  remember  well  that  Mr.  Lincoln  expressed  himself 
in  wonder  ancl  admiration  at  your  papers  on  the  proper 
course  to  be  pursued  in  legislating  for  the  crisis. 

In  this  connection  I  know  that  he  considered  your  opin 
ions  sound  and,  coming  from  a  lady,  most  remarkable  for 
their  knowledge  of  international  law. 

EDGAR  COWAN.  t 


QUINCY,  ILLINOIS,  Sept.  17,  s<$7J- 
Miss  A.  E.  CARROLL  : 

During  the  progress  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  from 
1861  to  1865,  I  had  frequent  conversations  with  President 

*  Truman  Smith  was  a  Member  of  Congress  from  Connecticut  for  a  long 
time. 

t  Bdgar  Cowan  was  U.  S.  Senator  from  Pennsylvania  during  the  whole 
war. 


52  TESTIMONIALS. 

Lincoln  and  Secretary  Stan  ton  in  regard  to  the  active  and 
efficient  part  you  had  taken  in  behalf  of  the  country,  in  all 
of  which  they  expressed  their  admiration  of  and  gratitude 
for  the  patriotic  and  valuable  services  you  had  rendered 
the  cause  of  the  Union  and  the  hope  that  you  would  be 
adequately  compensated  by  Congress.  At  this  late  day  I 
cannot  recall  the  details  of  those  conversations,  but  am  sure 
that  the  salutary  influence  of  your  publications  upon  public 
opinion  and  your  suggestions  in  connection  with  the  im 
portant  military  movements  were  among  the  meritorious 
services  which  they  recognized  as  entitled  to  remuneration. 

In  addition  to  the  large  debt  of  gratitude  which  the 
country  owes  you,  I  am  sure  you  are  entitled  to  generous 
pecuniary  consideration,  which  I  trust  will  not  be  withheld. 

With  sentiments  of  high  regard,  i  am, 
Your  obedient  servant, 

O.  H.  BROWNING.* 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  ij,  1874. 
Miss  A.  E.   CARROLL  : 

I  am  gratified  to  have  the  opportunity  of  expressing  my 
knowledge  and  appreciation  of  the  valuable  services  ren 
dered  by  you  to  the  cause  of  the  Union  at  the  beginning  of 
and  during  the  late  war.  Being  a  Marylander  and  located 
officially  in  Baltimore  in  1861,  1862,  1863,  and  1864,  I  can 
speak  confidently  of  the  important  aid  contributed  by  you 
to  the  Government  in  its  struggle  with  the  rebellion.  I 
recollect  very  distinctly  your  literary  labors,  the  powerful 
productions  of  your  pen,  which  struck  terror  into  the  heart 
of  the  rebellion  in  Maryland  and  encouraged  the  hopes 
and  stimulated  the  energies  of  the  loyal  sons  of  our  gallant 
State.  Especially  do  I  recall  the  eminent  aid  you  gave 


*  O.  H.  Browning,  of  Illinois,  was  Senator  during  the  war,  in  confiden 
tial  relations  with  President  Lincoln  and  Secretary  Stanton. 


TESTIMONIALS.  53 

to  Governor  Hicks,  and  the  high  esteem  he  placed  upon 
your  services.  Indeed,  I  have  reason  to  know  he  possessed 
no  more  efficent  coadjutor,  or  one  whose  co-operation  and 
important  service  he  more  justly  appreciated.  I  can  say 
with  all  sincerity  I  know  of  no  one  to  whom  the  State  of 
Maryland — I  may  say  the  country  at  large — is  more  in 
debted  for  singlenesss  of  purpose,  earnestness,  and  effectiv- 
ness  of  effort  in  behalf  of  the  Government  than  to  yourself. 

A  failure  to  recognize  these  service  will  indicate  a  reck 
less  indifference  to  the  cause  of  true  and  unfaltering  patriot 
ism,  to  which  I  cannot  think  a  just  Government  will  prove 
ungrateful. 

I  am,  dear  Miss  Carroll,  always  most  sincerely  and  truly 
yours, 

CHRIS.   C.   COXE.* 


PETERSBORO',  N.  Y.,  May,  1874. 
Miss  ANNA  ELLA  CARROLL  : 

Surely  nothing  more  can  be  needed  than  your  pamphlet, 
entitled  "Miss  Carroll's  Claim  before  Congress,"  to  insure 
the  prompt'and  generous  payment  of  it.  Our  country  will 
be  deeply  dishonored  if  you,  its  wise  and  faithful  and 
grandly  useful  servant,  shall  be  left  unpaid. 

GERRITT  SMITH,  f 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June 5,  1874. 
DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

I  did  not  receive  your  polite  note  and  the  pamphlet  in 
relation  to  your  claim  till  this  morning.  The  statement  of 

*Cristopher  C.  Coxe  held  many  offices  of  trust  throughout  the  war,  was 
quite  eminent  as  a  poet  and  man  of  letters,  and  was  pension  agent  at  Balti 
more. 

fGerritt  Smith  was  a  noted  philanthropist,  Member  of  Congress,  one  of  the 
first  so-called  Abolitionists,  and  a  man  of  immense  wealth. 


54  TESTIMONIALS. 

your  case  is  very  strong,  both  as  to  the  clear  proof  of  "value 
received"  from  you  by  the  Government,  and  on  which 
was  founded  its  promise  to  pay,  and  as  to  the  favorable 
opinions  of  your  literary  and  military  services  expressed  by 
leading  men.  I  know  of  no  instance  in  which  a  woman 
not  born  to  sovereign  sway  has  done  so  much  to  avert  the 
impending  ruin  of  her  country,  and  that  not  by  cheap 
valor,  like  Joan  of  Arc,  but  by  rare  mental  ability.  As 
a  Marylander,  I  am  proud  that  the  "  Old  Maryland  line  " 
was  so  worthily  represented  by  you  in  the  struggle  for  the 
Union. 

You  would  have  had  your  substantial  reward  long  ago 
but  for  the  very  absurd  opinion  that  by  some  fixed,  mys 
terious  law  of  nature  the  labor  done  by  women  is  worth  less 
than  precisely  similar  work  done  by  men.  You  should  per 
sist  in  your  just  claim,  if  only  to  establish  the  principle  that 
the  value  of  work  should  be  estimated  according  to  its 
merits  and  not  with  reference  to  the  worker;  but,  whatever 
may  be  the  fate  of  your  demand  on  the  Government,  you 
cannot  fail  to  receive  the  thanks  of  the  people. 
Very  respectfully, 

SAM'L  T.  WILLIAMS. 


PRINCESS  ANNE,  MD.,  August  22,  1874. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

I  have  read  with  interest  and  gratification  the  publication 
respecting  your  claim  now  pending  before  Congress. 

I  well  remember  that  you  were  an  earnest  supporter  of 
the  Union  in  the  hour  of  its  trial,  and  that  you  did  much 
by  word  and  pen  to  encourage  and  sustain  those  who  bat 
tled  against  the  rebellion,  and  for  such  services  you  are  en 
titled  to  high  consideration  and  reward.  The  proofs  ad 
duced  are  very  full  and  direct.  I  don't  see  how  its  payment 
can  be  resisted  without  impeaching  the  evidence  of  Mr. 


TESTIMONIALS.  55 

Scott,  the  late  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  and  of  Judge 
Wade,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of 
War — an  alternative  which  their  official  and  personal  char 
acters  forbid,  even  in  cases  where  their  personal  interests 
were  involved. 

With,  my  best  wishes,  I  have  the  honor  to  be  very  truly 
yours,  &c., 

J.  W.  CRISFIELD.* 


CUMBERLAND,  MD.  ,  August  25,  1874. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

You  may  feel  assured  that  I  read  with  exceeding  interest 
everything  from  your  pen  and  every  reference  in  the  press 
to  yourself  and  interests.  I  have  no  doubt  your  contribu 
tion  to  the  history  of  Maryland  at  the  eventful  crisis  re 
ferred  to  will  be  a  most  valuable  and  interesting  one. 

H.    W.     HOFFMAN.f 


LIMA,  PERU,  September  12,  1874. 
MY  DEAR  Mfss  CARROLL  : 

It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  have  an  opportunity  to 
testify  to  the  valuable  assistance  rendered  by  yourself  to 
the  cause  of  the  Union  at  the  commencment  and  during 
the  progress  of  the  late  war.  Your  private  conversations 
and  your  publications  in  the  newspapers  and  pamphlets  all 
tended  to  inspire  that  ardent  patriotism  which  a  grave  crisis 
in  public  affairs  imperatively  demanded.  Every  Marylander 
who  felt  called  upon  to  support  the  endangered  Government 
of  the  United  States  must  have  been  encouraged  and  cheered 
in  the  discharge  of  a  painful  duty  by  that  earnest  enthusi- 

*  J.  W.  Crisfield  was  a  Representative  from  Maryland  during  the  war. 
f  Henry  \V.  Hoffman  was  a  Representative  from  Maryland,  lawyer,  and 
Member  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 


56  TESTIMONIALS. 

asm  which  was  at  that  time  displayed  by  yourself  in  support 
of  the  measures  forced  upon  the  Government  by  the  rebellion. 
I  am  gratified  to  hear  that  you  propose  to  publish  a  book 
that  will  do  justice  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Governor 
Hicks  ;*  and  offering  my  best  wishes  for  the  success  of  your 
undertaking  and  for  your  personal  health  and  happiness, 
I  am  sincerely  your  friend, 

FRANCIS  THOMAS* 


NEWARK,  Sept.  28,  1874. 
DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

I  have  carefully  read  your  pamphlet,  and  I  do  not  hesi 
tate  to  say  your  claim  is  a  strong  one.  You  could  not  have 
a  better  witness  than  Colonel  Scott,  a  man  of  the  highest 
character.  His  testimony  is  clear  and  unequivocal,  and  if 
your  claim  is  rejected  I  can  attribute  it  to  but  one  cause — 
you  are  a  woman — a  relic  of  barbarism  against  your  sex  ; 
but  still  I  believe  you  will  succeed.  I  am  satisfied  that  a 
large  majority  of  the  members  of  both  Houses  are  fair- 
minded,  honorable  men,  disposed  to  do  what  is  right. 

I  should  be  glad  to  meet  you  and  talk  with  you  about 
your  proposed  life  of  Governor  Hicks.     There  are  several 
matters  I  should  be  pleased  to  discuss  with  you. 
Very  truly  your  friend, 

WM  H.  PARNELL, 
President  Delaware  College. 


CHESTERTOWN,  MD.,  Oct.  9.  1874. 

My  friend  Miss  Carroll  has  two  claims  against  the  Gov 
ernment  growing  out  of  services  rendered  to  the  country 

*  Francis  Thomas  was  a  Member  of  Congress  from  Maryland,  Governor  of 
Maryland,  and  Minister  to  Peru  under  Grant. 


TESTIMONIALS.  57 

during  the  civil  war — the  one  of  a  literary  and  the  other 
of  a  military  character.  Miss  Carroll  is  a  daughter  of  the 
late  Hon.  Thomas  King  Carroll,  one  of  the  best  men  Mary 
land  has  ever  produced. 

GEORGE  VICKERS. 


PRINCETON,  October  ij,  I&74- 
Miss  CARROLL  : 

I  thank  you  for  your  letter  of  the  i9th  ultimo  and  for  the 
two  pamphlets  that  accompanied  it,  which  I  read  with  great 
interest.  I  think  they  clearly  establish  your  claim  on  the 
gratitude  of  the  country  and  on  a  suitable  remuneration  by 
Congresss  by  proving  that  you  rendered  the  Government 
very  important  service  during  the  crisis  of  the  late  war. 
As  that  service  involved  great  labor  and  sacrifice  on  your 
part  and  saved  the  country  a  great  amount  of  useless  ex 
penditure  in  men  and  money,  justice  as  well  as  gratitude 
demands  that  it  should  be  liberally  rewarded. 

Hoping  that  those  in  authority  will  recognize  the  debt 
which  the  country  owes  you, 

I  am  very  respectfully  yours, 

CHARLES  HODGE, 
President  of  Theological  Seminary. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  16,  1874. 
DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

I  have  not  the  vanity  to  suppose  that  my  commendation 
can  add  to  the  high  estimate  placed  by  all  upon  your  serv 
ices  to  the  Union  in  the  late  war ;  but  as  you  have  done 
me  the  honor  to  ask  a  candid  expression  oif  my  opinion  I 
venture  to  say  that  any  statesman  or  author  of  America 
might  be  justly  proud  of  having  written  such  papers  as  the 
able  pamphlets  produced  by  you  in  support  of  the  Govern 
ment  at  that  critical  period. 


5  TESTIMONIALS. 

As  to  your  military  services  in  planning  the  Tennessee 
campaign,  you  hold  and  have  published  too  many  proofs 
of  the  validity  of  your  claim  to  require  further  confirma 
tion. 

I  shall  rejoice  in  your  success  in  procuring  a  formal 
recognition  of  your  labors  if  only  it  will  aid  in  establishing 
the  just  rule  that  equal  services,  whether  performed  by  man 
or  woman,  must  always  command  equal  recognition  and 
reward. 

As  a  Marylander,  I  am  proud  that  in  the  war  of  the  re 
bellion  "the  Old  Maryland  line"  was  so  worthily  repre 
sented  by  you. 

SAMUEL  T.  WILLIAMS. 

The  letters  of  eminent  men  in  admiration  of  Miss  Car 
roll's  papers,  published  and  unpublished,  would  fill  a  vol 
ume.  These  are  only  a  portion  of  those  published  by  order 
of  Congress. 

Senator  Jacob  Howard,  of  the  Military  Commission  ap 
pointed  to  inquire  into  Miss  Carroll's  services,  in  his  report 
of  the  42d  Congress,  states — 

"She  did  more  for  the  country  than  all  the  military 
generals.  She  showed  where  to  fight  and  how  to  strike  the 
rebellion  on  the  head,  possessing  withal  judicial  learning 
so  comprehensive  and  concise  in  its  style  of  argument  that 
the  Government  gladly  sat  at  her  feet  to  learn  the  wisdom 
of  its  powers." 

This  allusion  to  military  services  leads  us  to  a  still  more 
remarkable  record  of  Miss  Carroll's  work. 


BENJAMIN   F.  WADE. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE    MILITARY    SITUATION GOES    TO    ST.    LOUIS INCEPTION 

OF    THE    PLAN    OF    THE    TENNESSEE     CAMPAIGN GIVES     IN 

THE  PLAN  AT  THE  WAR  DEPARTMENT PRESIDENT  LIN 
COLN'S  DELIGHT  AT  THE  SOLUTION  OF  THE  PROBLEM 

ACCOUNT  WRITTEN  IN  1889 — JUDGE  WADE  AT  BULL 
RUN — FORMATION  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  FOR  THE  CONDUCT 
OF  THE  WAR. 

Early  in  the  fall  of  1861  a  gunboat  fleet  was  under  prep 
aration  to  descend  the  Mississippi.  It  was  a  time  of  ex 
treme  peril,  when  the  continuance  of  the  Union  depended 
on  immediate  military  success.  The  Union  armies  had 
met  with  repeated  reverses.  The  Confederates  were  exult 
ant  and  the  European  nations  were  expectant  of  the  ap 
proaching  downfall  of  the  United  States  Government. 
France  had  already  put  forth  her  hand  to  control  Mexico, 
and  although  in  England  the  Union  had  warm  friends  who 
still  hoped  for  its  success,  the  general  impression  was  that 
its  defeat  might  be  considered  a  foregone  conclusion. 
Financial  ruin  also  seemed  inevitable.  The  Northern 
army  was  costing  the  nation  two  million  dollars  a  day. 
The  Hon.  Mr..  Davves,  in  a  speech  in  Congress,  had  de 
clared  it  "  imposssible  for  the  United  States  to  meet  this 
state  of  things  sixty  days  longer."  "An  ignominious 
peace,"  he  predicted,  "was  upon  the  country  and  at  its 
very  doors." 

(59) 


60  THE    MILITARY    SITUATION. 

At  that  time  there  was  nothing  in  the  attitude  of  the 
Union  cause  very  strongly  to  appeal  to  English  sympathy. 
It  was  openly  set  forth  that  the  war  was  not  waged  for  the 
extermination  of  slavery.  Devotion  to  the  Union  could 
not  excite  especial  interest  in  any  but  an  American.  On 
the  contrary,  the  prevalent  opinion  in  England  was  that 
the  United  States  was  a  dangerous  and  rather  unscrupulous 
power,  and  that  it  would  be  for  the  interests  of  humanity 
that  it  should  be  divided  ;  consequently  the  general  sym 
pathy  was  largely  with  the  Confederates  and  the  desires 
of  the  governing  classes  for  their  success  openly  avowed. 
After  the  emancipation  proclamation  it  was  different.  The 
Union  cause  had  thereafter  the  incalculable  advantage  of  a 
well-defined  moral  position — a  position  always  keenly 
felt  by  the  English  masses.  The  desires  of  the  governing 
class  at  that  period  and  the  dangers  of  the  position  from  a 
military  point  of  view  are  well  indicated  in  extracts  given 
by  Miss  Carroll  in  her  successive  memorials  from  the  Eng 
lish  journals  and  from  diplomatic  correspondence. 

In  an  extract  from  the  London  Times,  brought  to  the 
notice  of  the  Senate  by  Mr.  Howe,  the  command  of  the 
waters  of  the  southwest  is  pointed  out  as  the  essential  mat 
ter,  and  it  is  stated  by  Mr-  Grimes  that  "  the  British  Gov 
ernment  has  sent  over  into  all  the  British  colonies  of  North 
America  some  thirty  thousand  men." 


[London  Times,  September  27   1861.] 
"  Whatever  may  be  the  assertions  of  the  Northerners, 
they    must   look   upon    the  permanent  separation    of  the 


THE    MILITARY    SITUATION.  6 1 

Southern  States  and  the  formation  of  a  second  republic  as 
at  least  highly  probable,  and  in  the  action  of  England  and 
France  toward  Mexico  Mr.  Lincoln,  perhaps,  only  sees 
an  intervention  in  the  affairs  of  a  country  which  is  soon  to 
be  divided  from  his  own  by  the  territory  of  a  rival.  *  * 
It  is  said  the  three  European  powers  have  taken  advantage  of 
the  dissensions  of  the  American  Union ^to  carry  out  plans 
upon  a  violation  of  the  Monroe  doctrine." 


[London  Shipping  Gazette,  February  i,  1862.] 

"A  semi-official  note  is  sent  by  Napoleon  to  the  British 
Government  respecting  the  blockade,  to  the  effect  that  the 
Emperor  cannot  longer  allow  French  commerce  to  be  in 
jured." 

DIPLOMATIC    CORRESPONDENCE CLAY  *   TO    SEWARD. 

Jan.  24,  1862. 

"  Prince  Go'rtchakoff  expresses  his  fears  should  any  reverse 
happen  to  us  that  England  would  at  once  make  common 
cause  with  the  South,  acknowledge  her  independence,  and 
finally  break  down  the  power  of  the  Republic.  I  must 
confess  I  very  much  fear  England's  influence.  My  first 
impression  is  not  weakened,  but  rather  strengthened. 
Nothing  but  great  and  decisive  success  will  save  us  from 
foreign  war.  I  would  prepare  for  war  with  England  as  an 
essential  means  to  prevent  the  independence  of  the  South 
before  the  first  of  April." 

*Cassius  M.  Clay,  Minister  to  St.  Petersburg  during  the  Civil  War,  has 
been  from  first  to  fast  one  of  Miss  Carroll's  warm  supporters.  He  says,  "  Be 
that  as  it  may,  your  case  stands  out  unique,  for  you  towered  above  all  our 
generals  in  military  genius,  and  it  would  be  a  shame  upon  our  country  if 
you  were  not  honored  with  the  gratitude  of  all  and  solid  pecuniary  reward." 
(See  p.  132  of  batch  of  memorials.) 


62  THE    MILITARY    SITUATION. 

SEWARD    TO    DAYTON. 

Jan.  27,  1862. 

*  *  *  "  You  see  our  army  and  our  fleet  are  at  Cairo. 
You  see  another  army  and  another  fleet  are  behind  Colum 
bus,  which  alone  is  relied  upon  to  close  the  Mississippi 
against  us  on  the  north.  Though  you  may  not  see  it, 
another  army  and  another  fleet  are  actually  on  their  way  to 
New  Orleans." 


At  this  time  of  intense  anxiety  it  was  suggested  to  Miss 
Carroll  by  the  War  Department  that  she  should  go  West 
and  endeavor  to  form  an  opinion  as  to  the  probable  result 
of  the  proposed  descent  of  the  Mississippi  by  the  gunboats, 
upon  the  success  of  which  the  continuance  of  the  Union 
depended.  Accordingly  she  went  to  St.  Louis,  and  re 
maining  for  a  month  or  more  at  the  Everett  House,  in  that 
city,  by  means  of  maps  and  charts  procured  from  the  Mer 
cantile  Library  she  made  careful  study  of  the  topography 
of  the  proposed  line  of  advance.  She  became  convinced 
that  this  intended  expedition  would  result  in  disaster,  and 
that  the  Tennessee  river,  not  the  Mississippi,  would  be  the 
true  pathway  to  success. 

Again  we  will  turn  to  Miss  Carroll's  able  account  in  the 
Congressional  Records  of  the  military  position  at  that 
time. 

"It  became  evident,  in  the  autumn  of  1861,  that  if  the 
unity  of  the  United  States  could  be  maintained  by  military 
force,  the  decisive  blow  upon  the  Confederate  power  must 
be  delivered  within  sixty  or  ninety  days.  To  that  period 


THE    MILITARY    SITUATION.  63 

the  tide  of  battle  had  been  steadily  against  the  Union,  and 
the  military  operations  had  not  met  the  expectations  ot  the 
country.  Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  this  rebel 
power  was  able  to  resist  all  the  power  of  the  Union  upon 
any  of  the  lines  of  operation  known  to  the  Administration  ; 
for  operating  on  any  safe  base,  on  any  of  these  known  lines, 
the  Union  armies  were  not  numerically  strong  enough  to 
reach  the  vital  point  in  the  Confederate  power.  The  enemy 
were  in  strong  force  on  a  line  extending  from  the  Potomac, 
westward  through  Bowling  Green,  to  Columbus,  on  the 
Mississippi,  and  was  complete  master  of  all  thi  territory  to 
the  Gulf.  Kentucky  and  Missouri  had  been  admitted  form 
ally  into  the  Confederacy,  and  they  had  resolved  to  move 
the  Capital  to  Nashville  and  extend  their  battle  lines  to  the 
northern  limits  of  those  States,  and  the  Secretary  of  War, 
after  a  tour  of  inspection,  reported  that  these  States  had 
not  sufficient  force  to  hold  them  to  the  Union. 

The  war  had  then  been  waged  seven  months,  and  be 
tween  700,000  and  800,000  men  had  been  mustered  in  the 
field  ;  the  public  debt  aggregated  over  $500,000,000  ;  and 
the  daily  average  expenses  of  maintaining  the  army  was 
upward  of  $2.000,000,  besides  the  hundreds  of  precious  lives 
which  were  being  daily  sacrificed. 

Thus,  while  the  two  armies  were  confronting  each  other 
in  sight  of  Washington,  events  were  rapidly  pressing  in  the 
Southwest  which,  if  unchecked,  would  change  the  destiny 
of  the  American  people  for  ages  to  come. 

Thus,  in  that  ominous  silence  which  preceded  the  shock 
and  storm,  the  two  sections  stood,  each  watching  and  await- 


64  THE   MILITARY    SITUATION. 

ing  the  movements  of  the  other.  Both  were  confident; 
the  South  greatly  strengthened  from  her  successes  and  im 
pregnable  position ;  the  North  strong  in  its  large  excess  of 
numbers,  wealth,  and  the  justice  of  its  cause. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  the  Army  of  the  West  were 
the  two  expeditions  on  which  the  Administration  relied. 

All  others  were  auxiliary  to  these  great  movements.  The 
first  named,  though  seeming  to  the  country  of  such  signal 
moment,  occupied  a  position  of  comparative  insignifi 
cance  when  contrasted  with  the  army  of  the  Southwest, 
and  had  chance  thrown  Richmond  under  national  control 
at  an  earlier  day  it  could  not  have  materially  affected  the 
destiny  of  the  war.  Capitals  in  an  insurgent  and  unrecog 
nized  power  can  have  but  very  little  strategic  value,  and 
from  the  geographical  position  of  Richmond  it  had  none 
at  all,  and  they  were  ready  to  move  it  any  day. 

They  could  have  surrendered  all  the  Atlantic  States  to 
Florida  and  yet  maintained  their  independence ;  indeed, 
it  was  upon  this  theory  that  the  disunion  party  had  ever 
based  its  expectations  of  separate  and  independent  nation 
ality.  Could  the  Confederates  have  held  their  power  over 
the  Mississippi  Valley  but  a  few  more  months  they  would 
have  so  connected  themselves  with  France  through  Texas 
and  with  England  through  the  States  of  the  great  northwest 
as  not  only  to  have  made  good  their  own  independence  but 
to  have  dwarfed  the  United  States  to  the  area  of  their  old 
thirteen  and  taken  the  lead  as  the  controlling  political 
power  on  this  continent. 

With  the  Mississippi  in  their  possession  to  the  mouth  of 


THE    MILITARY    SITUATION.  65 

the  Ohio,  the  presence  of  the  English  and  French  fleets  at 
New  Orleans  would  have  brought  about  that  result. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  after  having  been  put  upon  a 
scale  of  the  rarest  magnificence  consistent  with  mobility, 
and  with  several  changes  of  commanders,  took  three  years 
and  a  half  to  reach  Richmond,  and  was  not  then  half  way 
to  a  decisive  point,  and  never  would  have  been  strong 
enough  had  the  expedition  to  open  the  Mississippi  been 
executed  on  the  plan  as  originally  devised. 

Strategically  an  invasion  always  leads  to  deep  lines  of 
operations  which,  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  maintain 
ing  communications  with  its  base,  are  always  dangerous  in 
a  hostile  country,  and  every  mile  the  national  armies  ad 
vanced,  every  victory  they  gained,  carried  them  farther 
from  their  base,  and  required  an  increase  of  force  to  pro 
tect  their  communications ;  while  every  retreat  of  the  enemy 
brought  him  nearer  to  his  resources,  and  it  is  mathemati 
cally  certain  that  he  would  soon  have  reached  the  point  on 
that  line  where  he  would  have  been  the  superior  power. 
Nothing  but  the  results  of  the  Tennessee  campaign  pre 
vented  Lee  from  recruiting  his  army  and  extorted  from 
him  his  sword  at  Appomatox  Court-House. 

The  Mississippi  expedition  was  designed  by  the  aid  of 
the  one  from  the  Gulf  to  clear  the  river  to  the  mouth,  etc. 
Could  it  succeed?  Could  it  open  the  Mississippi  to  its 
mouth?  These  momentous  questions  and  the  military 
delay  were  weakening  the  confidence  of  the  people  and 
confirming  foreign  powers  in  the  belief  that  the  Govern 
ment  had  neither  the  strength  nor  the  ability  to  conquer 


66  THE    MILITARY   SITUATION. 

the  rebellion.  And  even  could  the  expedition  have  opened 
the  river,  was  there  any  point  on  that  river  where  a  decisive 
blow  could  have  been  dealt  the  Confederacy?  The  Mem 
phis  and  Charleston  railroad,  the  only  complete  interior 
line  of  communication,  would  not  necessarily  have  been 
touched.  So  long  as  the  Confederacy  could  maintain  its 
interior  lines  of  communication  complete,  the  United 
States  could  neither  destroy  its  armies  in  the  east  nor  open 
the  Mississippi  river.  The  National  Government  could 
only  escape  annihilation  by  reaching  the  center  of  the  Con 
federate  power  and  striking  a  fatal  blow  upon  its  resources. 
Geographically,  there  was  but  one  mode  of  attack  by  which 
this  could  be  accomplished,  and  this  was  unthought  of  or 
unknown  to  all  connected  with  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 

Mr.  Lincoln  saw  from  the  beginning  the  vital  impor 
tance  of  regaining  the  Mississippi  and  controlling  the  re 
sources  of  its  great  valley,  and  therefore  reserved  to  himself 
the  direction  of  this  expedition  as  Commander-in-chief. 
He  was  fully  alive  to  the  perils  that  now  environed  the 
Government,  and  he  and  his  advisers  looked  imploringly 
to  the  army  for  relief  as  the  agency  absolutely  essential 
to  the  nation's  life.  This  and  this  only  could  strike  the 
blow  that  must  then  be  struck,  if  ever. 

No  display  of  military  genius  could  have  extorted  from 
Lee  his  sword  so  long  as  his  resources  were  un wasted.  No 
valor  on  the  part  of  our  navies  and  armies  could  have 
opened  the  Mississippi  so  long  as  the  Confederates  could 
keep  open  the  lines  of  communication.  The  Memphis 
and  Charleston  railroad  was  their  only  complete  bond  of 


THE    MILITARY    SITUATION.  67 

connection  between  their  armies  of  the  east  and  the  armies 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  There  was  but  one  avenue  by 
which  this  bond  could  be  reached  and  effectually  severed, 
and  that  was  the  Tennessee  river.  The  people  had  re 
sponded  grandly;  their  uprising  in  behalf  of  their  endan 
gered  Government  had  astonished  the  world.  It  now  re 
mained  for  the  army  to  supplement  by  its  valor  in  the  field 
what  the  Administration  and  the  people  had  done  at  home. 

Never  was  the  stress  and  strain  of  a  nation  more  severe  ; 
never  when  another  defeat  would  have  been  so  perilous  and 
a  victory  so  desirable  as  then.  So  long  as  the  Confeder 
ates  were  undisturbed  in  the  possession  of  the  southwest, 
and  men  and  munitions  of  war  sent  uninterruptedly  to  the 
east,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  could  not  advance.  Some 
thing  had  to  be  done  to  cripple  or  engage  the  rebel  armies 
in  that  section. 

As  the  weary  months  of  October  and  November  wore 
away,  the  'darkness  grew  more  and  more  intense  and  the 
anxiety  more  oppressive.  A  blow  had  to  be  inflicted 
quickly  that  would  be  sharp  and  mortal,  to  ward  off  inter 
vention  and  invasion  by  European  powers,  to  smother  the 
spirit  of  secession  in  southern  Illinois  and  Indiana,  and  to 
prevent  financial  bankruptcy,  which  of  itself  must  destroy 
the  nation. 

And  yet  neither  Mr.  Lincoln  nor  his  generals  knew  or 
had  in  mind  any  plan  other  than  that  of  forcing  a  passage 
down  the  Mississippi,  bristling  with  batteries  that  frowned 
from  its  bluffs,  while  swamps  and  bayous  skirted  and  pierced 
its  banks,  affording  defenses  in  the  rear  little  less  formidable 
and  forbidding. 


68  THE    MILITARY    SITUATION. 

And  thus  the  nation  stood  as  in  the  hush  that  precedes 
the  storm  or  the  crash  of  battle,  apprehending  not  so  much 
any  particular  movement  of  the  Confederate  armies  as  the 
threatening  elements  generally  with  which  the  air  seemed 
surcharged,  and  knowing  not  how  or  when  or  where  the 
blow  would  fall.  Military  success  was  of  all  things  most 
desired  ;  military  delay  of  all  things  most  dreaded.  With 
the  South  to  standstill  was  their  strength  ;  time  was  power, 
and  every  day's  delay  increased  the  thickening  dangers  that 
were  closing  around  the  Union  cause.  With  the  North 
not  to  advance  was  to  recede ;  not  to  dstroy  was  to  be  de 
stroyed.  The  exigencies  of  the  situation  made  it  impera 
tive  that  the  decisive  blow  should  be  struck  thus  early  in 
the  war.  How  to  make  that  advance  and  deliver  that  fatal 
blow  was  the  great  problem  to  be  solved.  Omniscience 
only  was  then  able  to  know  whether  the  last  sun  had  set  to 
rise  no  more  on  the  Union  of  these  States.  The  country 
was  clamorous  for  military  successes,  but  not  half  so  troubled 
as  was  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  advisers,  for  the  people  did  not 
know,  as  they  did,  how  much  depended  thereon  ;  how  the 
beam  trembled  in  the  balance  and  what  irremediable  evils 
were  involved  in  delay. 

Congress  met ;  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the 
War  was  at  once  created.  How  great  were  the  dangers 
which  at  that  supreme  moment  made  the  continued  exist 
ence  of  the  Government  a  question  of  doubt,  and  the  fact 
that  the  military  successes  in  the  West  which  followed  were 
not  achieved  a  day  too  soon  is  made  evident  by  the  speeches 
of  many  of  the  most  distinguished  statesmen  of  that  period, 


THE    MILITARY    SITUATION.  69 

in  both  houses  of  Congress,  some  of  them  occupying  posi 
tions  on  the  most  important  committees  connected  with  the 
prosecution  of  the  war  and  necessarily  possessed  of  the 
most  reliable  information.  The  utterances  in  the  halls  of 
Congress  sustain  every  fact  as  here  described." 

In  this  same  Congressional  document  of  1878  Miss  Carroll 
thus  describes  her  inception  of  the  plan  of  the  Tennessee 
campaign  : 

"In  the  autumn  of  1861  my  attention  was  arrested  by 
the  confidence  expressed  by  Southern  sympathizers  in  the 
southwest,  that  the  Mississippi  could  not  be  opened  before 
the  recognition  of  Southern  independence.  I  determined 
to  inform  myself  what  the  pilots  thought  of  the  gunboat 
expedition  then  preparing  to  descend  the  river.  On  in 
quiry  I  was  directed  to  Mrs.  Scott,  then  in  the  hotel,  whose 
husband  was  a  pilot,  and  learned  from  her  that  he  was  then 
with  the  expedition  that  had  moved  against  Belmont;  and 
the  important  facts  she  gave  me  increased  my  wish  to  see  Mr. 
Scott.  On  his  arrival  in  St.  Louis  I  sent  for  him.  He  said 
that  it  was  his  opinion,  and  that  of  all  the  pilots  on  these 
waters,  that  the  Mississippi  could  not  be  opened  by  the  gun 
boats.  I  inquired  as  to  the  navigability  of  the  Cumberland 
and  the  Tennessee.  He  said  at  favorable  stages  of  water  the 
gunboats  could  go  up  the  former  as  high  Nashville,  and  the 
latter,  at  all  stages,  as  high  as  the  Muscle  Shoals  in  Alabama. 
The  moment  he  said  the  Tennessee  was  navigable  for  gun 
boats  the  thought  flashed  upon  me  that  the  strongholds  of 
the  enemy  might  be  turned  at  once  by  diverting  the  ex 
pedition  in  course  of  preparation  to  open  the  Mississippi 


70  THE    MILITARY    SITUATION. 

up  the  Tennessee ;  and  having  had  frequent  conversations 
with  Judge  Evans  on  the  military  situation,  I  left  the  room 
to  communicate  this  thought — as  he  had  just  then  called  at 
the  hotel — and  asked  him  if  it  would  not  have  that  effect. 
He  concurred  that  it  would,  and  that  it  was  the  move  if  it 
was  a  fact  that  the  Tennessee  afforded  the  navigation  ;  and 
he  accompanied  me  to  interrogate  Mr.  Scott,  to  be  satisfied 
as  to  the  feasibility  of  the  Tennessee.  The  interview  was 
prolonged  some  time.  At  the  close  I  told  Mr.  Scott  it  was 
my  purpose  to  try  and  induce  the  Government  to  divert  the 
Mississippi  expedition  up  the  Tennessee,  and  asked  him  to 
give  me  a  memorandum  of  the  most  important  facts  elicited 
in  the  conversation,  as  I  wished  them  for  this  object.  I 
further  stated  my  intention  to  pen  the  history  of  the  war, 
and  requested  him  to  write  from  time  to  time  all  the  valu 
able  information  he  might  be  able,  and  I  would  remember 
him  in  my  work.  The  same  day  I  wrote  again  to  Assistant 
Secretary  of  War  Thomas  A.  Scott,*  to  whom  I  had  prom 
ised  to  communicate  the  result  of  my  observations  while  in 
the  West,  and  also  to  Attorney  General  Bates ;  to  both  of 
whom  I  urged  the  importance  of  a  change  of  campaign." 

A  letter  from  Judge  Evans,  who  chanced  to  be  in  St. 
Louis  on  other  business,  at  the  time  gives  a  precisely  simi 
lar  account  of  this  interview  with  the  pilot,  and  the  ideas 
then  suggested  by  Miss  Carroll  uttered,  as  he  relates,  "  in 
a  very  earnest  and  animated  manner  !  " 

Even  though  it  involves  some  repetition,  we  will  here  give 

*  Thomas  A.  Scott  was  the  great  railroad  magnate,  was  Assistant  Secre 
tary  of  War  when  Stanton  was  Secretary,  and  was  sent  by  Stanton  to  inaug 
urate  the  Tennessee  campaign  which  saved  the  Union. 


THE    MILITARY    SITUATION.  71 

also  an  account  written  by  Miss  Carroll  in  the  winter  of 
1889.  It  will  possess  an  especial  interest,  as  it  may  be  the 
last  literary  exertion  that  the  invalid  authoress  will  ever  be 
asked  to  make. 

It  was  called  forth  by  a  wish  expressed  by  a  leading 
magazine  to  have  a  fresh  account  written  directly  by  Miss 
Carroll.  With  fingers  lamed  by  paralysis  the  following  ac 
count  was  written,  showing  the  clearness  of  Miss  Carroll's 
memory  in  her  seventy-fifth  year. 

"In  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion  public  opinion  gave  the 
victory  to  the  Southern  cause,  and  no  one  shared  in  this 
conviction  to  a  greater  extent  than  President  Lincoln  and 
the  War  Department.  The  first  effort  made  by  me  was  in 
an  unpretentious  pamphlet,  which  fell  into  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  and  so  pleased  him  (it  did  not  appear  with  my 
name)  that  he  suggested  its  adoption  as  a  war  measure,  and 
the  satisfaction  it  gave  was  so  general  that  Governor  Bates, 
then  Attorney  General,  urged  that  I  should  continue  to 
write  in  the  interest  of  the  Government.  Fired  by  en 
thusiasm  in  a  noble  cause,  I  accepted  the  suggestion,  and 
followed  soon  with  what  some  have  considered  my  best 
work,  ''The  War  Powers  of  the  Government,"  and  other 
pamphlets.  About  this  time  I  had  thought  of  visiting  St. 
Louis,  and  mentioned  my  intention  to  Col.  Thomas  A. 
Scott,  Assistant  Secretary  of  War.  He  urged  me  to  go, 
asking  me  to  write  him  fully  of  every  point  and  fact  in 
vestigated.  These  facts  I  communicated  as  requested,  both 
to  him  and  to  Governor  Bates. 

The  clouds  were  dark  and  lowering.     Despair  had  well 


72  THE    MILITARY    SITUATION. 

nigh  possession  of  the  bravest  hearts.  After  my  arrival  I 
soon  saw  and  felt  that  the  sentiment  of  the  West  was  de 
cidedly  against  the  Union,  or  rather  in  favor  of  the  Southern 
cause. 

I  visited  the  various  encampments  en  route  and  in  St. 
Louis  and  found  but  little  difference  among  leading  minds 
as  to  the  result  anticipated.  All  in  a  measure  believed  the 
struggle  useless. 

Finding  the  sentiment  prevalent  that  the  Union  must 
fall  and  feeling  in  my  soul  that  it  must  not  fall,  I  began 
revolving  an  escape  from  the  threatened  doom.  Just  then, 
while  I  was  in  St.  Louis,  the  battle  of  Belmont  was  fought. 
When  I  saw  the  dead  and  dying  as  they  lay  upon  that 
field  and  witnessed  the  sad  sight  of  the  ambulance  wagons 
bearing  the  wounded  to  the  hospitals,  my  heart  sank  within 
me.  The  future  of  the  war  with  these  awful  scenes  re 
peated  was  a  picture  not  to  be  endured,  and  my  anxiety 
as  to  the  result  grew  still  more  intense. 

In  reflecting  upon  the  dangers  of  the  proposed  expedition 
it  came  upon  me,  as  by  inspiration,  that  the  sailors — the 
pilots — might  offer  some  suggestion.  I  knew  that  the 
military  leaders  would  never  avail  themselves  of  this 
humble  source  of  information.  I  thought  the  pilots,  of  all 
others,  should  know  the  strategic  points.  Sending  for  the 
proprietor  of  the  hotel  where  I  was  stopping,  I  asked  him 
how  I  could  get  into  contact  with  any  of  these  men.  He 
told  me  that  the  wife  of  a  pilot  named  Scott  was  then  in 
the  house.  I  called  on  her  at  once  and,  finding  her  well 
informed,  I  questioned  her  as  to  the  harbors,  coast  defenses, 


THE    MILITARY    SITUATION.  73 

etc.  Mrs.  Scott  was  just  about  to  leave  the  city,  but  she 
promised  to  send  her  husband  to  me.  I  could  not  wait  for 
this  chance,  but  wrote  to  him  for  the  information  I  desired. 
He  called  upon  me  in  response,  and  during  our  conversa 
tion  he  said  it  would  be  ''death  to  every  man  who  attempted 
to  go  down  the  Mississippi."  Yet  no  other  route  had  been 
dreamed  of.  I  then  asked  him,  "What  about  the  Cumber 
land  and  Tennessee  rivers;"  whether  they  were  fordable 
for  gunboats?  He  replied, "  Yes,  the  Tennessee  especially.' ' 
Of  course,  he  did  not  at  first  know  of  any  ulterior  purpose 
in  the  questions  which  I  was  asking,  other  than  the  infor 
mation  of  an  ardent  lover  of  our  country.  As  he  mentioned 
the  Tennessee  it  flashed  upon  me  with  the  certainty  of  con 
viction  that  I  had  seen  my  way  to  the  salvation  of  my 
country. 

I  left  the  pilot  and  sent  immediately  for  Judge  Evans, 
of  Texas,  who  was  stopping  at  the  same  hotel.  I  was 
almost  overcome  with  excitement  and  shall  never  forget 
the  moment  that  I  rushed  to  him  exclaiming,  "What  do 
you  think  of  diverting  the  army  from  the  Mississippi  to  the 
Tennessee  !  "  * 

I  waited  breathlessly  for  his  reply.  It  came  in  measured 
tones.  "  It  may  be  so.  I  had  never  thought  of  it." 

*  Judge  Evans  himself,  describing-  this  eventful  scene,  said  "that  for  a 
moment  it  seemed  as  if  a  halo  of  glory  surrounded  Miss  Carroll,  and  that 
she  looked  like  one  transfigured."  One  hesitates  in  these  matter-of-fact 
days  to  repeat  such  words  as  these,  but  as  my  reliable  informant,  to  whom 
they  were  addressed,  assures  me  that  such  were  his  words  it  seemed  worth 
while  to  record  them.  In  all  times  it  has  seemed  that  the  human  counte 
nance  wholly  possessed  by  a  great  idea  could  assume  a  radiance  only  to  be 
described  by  the  spectator  by  some  such  words  as  these,  and  the  fact  was  so 
symbolized  in  ancient  art.  The  human  soul  is  no  less  potent  in  these  days 
than  in  the  times  of  old. 


74  THE    MILITARY    SITUATION. 

That  night  I  wrote  to  Governor  Bates,  who  had  planned 
the  Mississippi  gunboat  scheme.  He  presented  the  letter 
at  once  to  the  Acting  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Scott.  They 
both  opposed  it  at  first  as  impracticable.  I  returned  im 
mediately  to  Washington,  prepared  a  paper  on  that  basis 
and  took  it  to  Mr.  Scott,  who  was  really  Acting  Secretary 
of  War,  General  Cameron's  time  being  largely  consumed 
in  Cabinet  meetings.  After  reading  my  plan  and  hearing 
my  verbal  arguments,  Mr.  Scott's  countenance  brightened 
and  he  exclaimed,  "  Miss  Carroll,  I  believe  you  have  solved 
the  question."  He  hurried  at  once,  with  the  plan  in  his 
hands,  to  the  White  House  and  with  much  excitement  gave 
it  to  the  President.  Mr.  Lincoln  read  it  with  avidity,  and 
when  he  had  finished  it  Mr.  Scott  told  me  that  he  had  never 
witnessed  such  delight  as  he  evinced. 

General  McClellan  was  then  in  command.  He  opposed 
the  plan,  but  Mr.  Lincoln  quietly  gave  the  orders  himself 
for  a  change  of  base  as  soon  as  possible.  Up  to  that  time 
no  plan  for  the  close  of  the  struggle,  except  down  the  Mis 
sissippi,  had  ever  occurred  to  the  mind  of  any  living  man 
or  woman,  as  far  as  known ;  but  from  that  moment  Mr. 
Lincoln  thought  of  nothing  else.  He  hastened  to  send 
Mr.  Scott  to  investigate,  and  went  himself  at  once  to  St. 
Louis  to  aid  in  putting  the  plan  in  motion. 

Just  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Henry  I  called  at  the  War  De 
partment  and  saw  Mr.  Tucker,  then  Assistant  Secretary  of 
War.  He  told  me  that  Mr.  Scott  stated  to  him  on  leaving 
for  the  West,  "This  is  Miss  Carroll's  plan,  and  if  it  suc 
ceeds  the  glory  is  hers." 


THE    MILITARY    SITUATION.  75 

General  Wade,  then  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Conduct  of  the  War,  was  consulted  in  the  matter.  He 
recognized  it  at  once  as  the  right  move  and  openly  and 
boldly  approved  the  plan.  Every  effort  was  made  to  hasten 
the  completion  of  the  gunboats.  As  soon  as  they  were  fin 
ished,  which  was  not  until  February,  action  was  commenced 
on  the  Tennessee  line.  Mr.  Wade  at  the  same  time  .made 
it  known  to  Hon.  Wm.  Pitt  Fessenden,  chairman  of  the 
Finance  Committee  in  the  Senate,  that  there  was  then  a 
movement  on  foot,  to  be  executed  as  soon  as  the  gunboats, 
then  building  at  St.  Louis,  were  ready,  which  would  satisfy 
the  entire  country  and  astound  the  world ;  and  he  so  re 
assured  the  Senate  that  they  calmly  waited  until  the  time 
arrived  for  the  execution  of  the  plan. 

Colonel  Thomas  A.  Scott  was  sent  to  the  West  to  make 
all  things  ready  and  expedite  the  movement. 

He  gave  his  orders  from  one  point  to  another,  so  that  when 
General  Halleck,  who  was  then  in  military  command,  was 
notified  by  Mr.  Lincoln  that  the  whole  force  was  to  be 
moved  from  the  Mississippi  up  the  Tennessee  river  he  stood 
ready  for  the  movement.  In  February,  1862,  the  armies 
moved  up  the  Tennessee,  then  to  Fort  Donelson,  and  then 
back  up  the  Tennessee  to  Hamburgh,  and  two  miles  from 
there  they  fought  the  battle  of  Pittsburgh  Landing,  as 
pointed  out  in  my  plan.  Had  the  movement  been  strictly 
carried  out  from  the  foot  of  the  Muscle  Shoals,  in  Alabama, 
Vicksburgh  could  have  been  reduced,  or  Mobile,  and  the 
whole  thing  ended  in  the  spring  of  1862  as  easily  as  in 
1865,  and  with  the  same  result.  In  a  recent  publication 


76  THE    MILITARY    SITUATION. 

General  Sherman  has  admitted  this  fact.  At  the  fall  of  Fort 
Henry  the  country  was  thoroughly  aroused  as  it  never  had 
been  before.  It  was  clearly  seen  that  the  end  was  approach 
ing.  Richmond  was  then  within  reach  through  Tennessee. 
For  this  General  McClellan  had  been  waiting.  Before  this 
no  power  on  earth  could  have  captured  Richmond,  and  no 
one  knew  this  better  than  General  McClellan.  When  the 
National  armies  had  penetrated  into  the  heart  of  the  South, 
within  two  miles  of  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  railroad, 
the  result  was  plain  to  every-  mind. 

The  old  flag  displayed  in  the  presence  of  a  million  of 
slaves,  who  had  before  been  necessarily  on  the  side  of 
their  owners,  made  the  fact  doubly  secure.  All  hearts  were 
jubilant,  and  Roscoe  Conkling  then  offered  his  celebrated 
resolutions  in  the  House  of  Representatives  to  ascertain  who 
it  was  that  had  designed  these  military  movements  so  fruit 
ful  in  great  results ;  whether  they  came  from  Washington 
or  elsewhere  ;  by  whom  they  were  designed  and  what  they 
were  intended  to  accomplish.  Judge  Olin  replied  that  if 
it  was  Mr.  Conkling's  design  to  find  out  who  had  done  this 
work  he  could  learn  by  inquiring  at  the  War  Department, 
for  certainly  the  Secretary  of  War  or  the  President  must 
know  all  about  it;  but  it  was  sufficient  for  the  present  to 
know  that  some  one  had  designed  these  movements,  and 
that  the  country  was  now  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  blessings 
that  had  resulted  from  them.  Hon.  Thaddeus  Stevens 
moved  that  the  resolutions  of  Mr.  Conkling,  making  in 
quiry,  be  referred  to  the  Military  Committee  of  the  House. 
During  the  discussion  the  plan  was  attributed  to  one  person 


THE   MILITARY    SITUATION.  77 

and  another,  but  no  satisfactory  proof  could  be  given  on 
any  side.  I  was  present  through  it  all  and  could  at  any 
moment  have  satisfied  Congress  and  the  world  as  to  the 
authorship  of  the  plan,  but  from  prudential  reasons  I  re 
frained  from  uttering  a  word.  It  was  decided  to  refer  the 
question  to  the  Military  Committee  of  the  House,  and  there 
the  matter  slept. ' ' 

It  is  worth  while  to  pause  for  a  moment  in  our  narration 
to  introduce  upon  the  scene  one  of  the  most  useful  and  re 
markable  men  of  the  time,  who  became  one  of  Miss  Car 
roll's  principal  coadjutors;  this  was  Senator  Wade,  of  Ohio. 
He  was  successively  justice  of  the  peace,  prosecuting  at 
torney,  State  senator,  judge  of  the  circuit  court,  and 
United  States  Senator  for  three  terms  ;  he  was  also  Acting 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States  after  Lincoln's  death. 
If  President  Johnson's  impeachment  had  been  carried 
through  he  would  have  been  the  President  for  the  rest  of 
the  term,  and  it  was  feared  by  his  opponents  that  in  that 
case  he  would  have  secured  the  Chicago  nomination  for  the 
coming  term,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  candidates. 

The  first  encounter  of  the  Union  army,  a  crowd  of  raw, 
undisciplined  recruits,  under  new  and  inexperienced  officers, 
with  the  better  prepared  Confederate  army  naturally  re 
sulted  in  a  tremendous  panic.  Two  carriages  were  present  on 
the  battlefield  ;  one  contained  Senators  Wade,  Chandler,  and 
Brown,  Sergeant-at-arms  of  the  Senate,  and  Major  Eaton; 
in  the  other  was  Tom  Brown,  of  Cleveland,  Blake,  Morris, 
and  Riddle,  of  the  House.  Near  the  extemporized  hospital, 
Ashley's  Black  Horse  sweeping  down  on  the  recruits  caused 


78  THE   MILITARY    SITUATION. 

the  panic.  One  of  the  gentlemen  present  thus  described 
the  scene.  (The  description  can  be  met  with  in  Coxe's 
Three  Decades  and  in  Riddle's  Life  of  Wade,  a  work  that 
should  be  more  widely  published.) 

"  It  seemed  as  if  the  very  devils  of  panic  and  cowardice 
had  seized  every  mortal  officer,  soldier,  teamster,  and  citi 
zen.  No  officer  tried  to  rally  a  soldier  or  do  anything  but 
spring  and  run  toward  Centerville.  There  was  never  any 
thing  like  it  for  causeless,  sheer,  absolute,  absurd  cowardice — 
or  rather  panic — on  this  miserable  earth  before.  Off  they 
went,  one  and  all — off  down  the  highway,  across  the  fields, 
towards  the  woods,  anywhere,  everywhere,  to  escape.  The 
further  they  ran  the  more  frightened  they  grew,  and  though 
we  moved  as  fast  as  we  could  the  fugitives  passed  us  by 
scores.  To  enable  themselves  better  to  run  they  threw 
away  their  blankets,  knapsacks,  canteens,  and  finally  their 
muskets,  cartridge-boxes — everything.  We  called  to  them  ; 
told  them  there  was  no  danger ;  implored  them  to  stand. 
We  called  them  cowards ;  denounced  them  in  the  most  of 
fensive  terms ;  pulled  out  our  heavy  revolvers,  threatened  to 
kill  them — in  vain.  A  cruel,  crazy,  hopeless  panic  pos 
sessed  them  and  infected  everybody,  front  and  rear." 

The  two  carriages  were  blocked  up  in  the  awful  gorge  of 
Cub's  Run  and  were  for  a  time  separated.  When  they 
again  met,  Mr.  Wade  shouted,  "Boys,  we'll  stop  this 
damned  runaway  !  ' ' 

They  found  a  good  position,  where  a  high  wall  on  one 
side  and  a  dense  impassable  wood  secured  the  other  side. 
The  eight  gentlemen  leaped  from  their  carriages  and  put 


THE    MILITARY    SITUATION.  79 

Mr.  Wade  in  command.  Mr.  Wade,  with  his  hat  well  back 
and  his  famous  rifle  in  his  hand,  formed  them  across  the 
pikes  all  armed  with  heavy  revolvers  and  facing  the  onflow- 
ing  torrent  of  runaways,  who  were  ghastly  sick  with  panic, 
and  this  little  band,  worthy  of  the  heroes  of  Thermopylae, 
actually  kept  back  the  runaway  army,  so  that  "for  the 
fourth  of  an  hour  not  a  man  passed  save  McDowell's  bearer 
of  dispatches,  and  he  only  on  production  of  his  papers. 
The  rushing,  cowardly,  half-armed,  demented  fugitives 
stopped,  gathered,  crowded,  flowed  back,  hedged  in  by 
thick-growing  cedars  that  a  rabbit  could  scarcely  pene 
trate.  The  position  became  serious.  A  revolver  was  dis 
charged,  shattering  the  arm  of  Major  Eaton,  from  the  hand 
of  a  mounted  escaping  teamster"  (who  had  cut  loose  from 
his  wagon). 

"At  that  critical  moment  the  heroic  old  Senator  and  his 
friends  were  relieved  and  probably  saved  by  Colonel  Crane 
and  a  part -of  the  Second  New  York,  hurrying  toward  the 
scene  of  the  disaster,  and  then  the  party  proceeded.  Nat 
urally  the  exploit  of  Mr.  Wade  in  stopping  a  runaway 
army  caused  much  talk  at  Washington  and  increased  the 
great  confidence  and  admiration  with  which  he  was  al 
ready  regarded.* 

"  In  consequence  of  this  disaster  and  the  following  one  at 
Ball's  Bluff,  it  was  evident  that  both  soldiers  and  officers 
would  have  to  be  created,  and  that  we  were  without  a  mili- 


*A  few  days  ago  the  present  writer  was  conversing  with  one  of  the  sur 
vivors  of  the  party  and  received  from  him  a  detailed  account  of  this  singular 
episode. 


8o  THE    MILITARY    SITUATION. 

tary  commander  competent  to  direct  so  vast  a  war.  This 
led  to  the  formation  by  Congress  of  a  Committee  for  the 
Conduct  of  the  War.  It  consisted  of  seven  members,  three 
from  the  Senate  and  four  from  the  House ;  Wade,  Chandler, 
and  Andrew  Johnson  from  the  Senate;  Julian,  Covode, 
Gooch,  and  Odell  from  the  House.  (Johnson  seems  never  to 
have  acted.)  Nobody  but  Wade  was  thought  of  for  chair 
man.  Mr.  Wade  was  absolutely  fearless,  physically  and 
morally  ;  absolutely  regardless  of  self;  absolutely  devoted 
to  his  country.  All  parties  agreed  in  boundless  admiration 
and  confidence  in  the  heroic  old  Senator.  "It  is  said  that 
Wade  seldom  missed  a  session  of  the  committee.  The 
most  conscientious  of  known  men;  never  ill;  he  never  neg 
lected  a  duty;  failed  of  an  engagement ;  was  never  waited 
for,  and  never  failed  to  meet  his  foe,  one  or  many." 

"The  committee,  by  Mr.  Wade,  omitting  Mr.  John 
son's  name,  made  their  first  report  soon  after  the  close  of 
the  37th  Congress,  in  April,  1863,  which  made  three  heavy 
volumes  of  over  2,000  printed  pages. 

Their  second  report  was  made  May  22,  1865,  a  trifle 
more  in  bulk,  six  volumes  in  all."  (Very  valuable  for  fu 
ture  historians.) — Life  of  Benjamin  F.  Wade  by  A.  G. 
Riddle. 

President  Lincoln,  as  Commander-in-Chief,  with  the 
assistance  of  this  committee,  thereafter  directed  the  move 
ments  of  the  war,  all  the  generals  being  subordinate  and  only 
enlightened  step  by  step  as  to  the  accepted  plan  of  campaign, 
great  secrecy  being,  as  Mr.  Wade  testifies,  necessary  or  the 
plan  would  have  been  frustrated. 


CHAPTER  V. 


MISS  CARROLL'S  PAPERS  TO  THE  WAR  DEPARTMENT — PLAN  OF 
CAMPAIGN — LETTERS  FROM  SCOTT,  WADE,  AND  OTHERS — 

DISCUSSIONS PAPERS    AS    THE    CAMPAIGN    PROGRESSES. 

List  of  Miss  Carroll's  papers  sent  into  the  War  Department 
in  her  own  handwriting  and  signed  with  her  name,  originally 
on  file  at  the  War  Department  ;  all  in  the  first  division  relating 
to  the  Tennessee  campaign  ;  sent  on  various  occasions  to  the 
Capital  to  be  examined  by  military  committees,  and  printed  by 
order  of  Congress  in  successive  memorials  and  reports  from 
1870  to  1881. 

The  papers  marked  with  a  star  are  now  on  file  at  the  War 
Department.  With  the  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
these  were  seen  by  me  and  carefully  examined  March  yth, 
1891.  They  were  sent  by  Robert  Lincoln  to  the  Court  of  Claims 
in  1885,  and  copies  were  put  on  file  in  the  office  of  the  Attorney 
General,  the  original  documents  being  returned  to  the  War 
Department.  One  of  these  original  documents  at  the  War  De 
partment  is  now7  incomplete,  but  must  have  been  in  good  order 
in  1885,  as  the  copies  then  made  are  complete  and  in  excellent 
condition.  They  were  verified  as  true  copies  by  the  Secretary 
of  War.  These  also  were  examined  by  me  at  the  office  of  the 
Attorney  General  March  23,  1891.  The  absence  of  the  other 
documents  from  the  War  Office  is  accounted  for  by  the  remark 
able  testimony  of  Benjamin  F.  Wade  and  Samuel  Hunt  (keeper 
of  the  records),  as  given  on  page  30,  45th  Congress,  2d  session, 
Mis.  Doc.  58,  both  testifying  that  the  papers  were  abstracted 
from  the  desk  of  the  Secretary  when  the  Military  Committee 
6C  "(81) 


82  PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN. 

were  considering  Miss  Carroll's  claim,  in  1871.  As  Miss  Carroll 
possessed  the  original  draft  of  these  letters,  she  quickly  repro 
duced  them.  The  papers  having  been  already  examined  by  the 
Committee  and  by  Mr.  Hunt,  the  copies  were  accepted  in  place 
of  the  missing  file  and  printed  ' '  by  order  of  Congress, "  and  thus 
guaranteed  they  became,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  the  same 
thing  as  the  original  documents  ;  but  apparently  they  were 
not  sent  to  the  War  Office,  not  being  the  original  documents  sent 
from  there.  On  March  20,  1891, 1  examined  the  files  of  the  4ist 
Congress,  2d  session,  at  the  Secretary's  office  of  the  U.  S.  Senate, 
at  the  Capitol,  and  there  I  found  Miss  Carroll's  first  memorial, 
1870,  with  the  "plan  of  campaign  "  attached,  just  as  described 
by  Thomas  A.  Scott. 

S.  B.  BifACKWBU,. 

FIRST    DIVISION. 

A  paper  usually  designated  as  the  "plan  of  campaign. " 
When  given  in  at  the  War  Office  to  Thomas  A.  Scott  it  was 
accompanied  by  a  military  map  ;  the  paper  in  Miss  Carroll's 
own  handwriting  and  signed  with  her  name,  the  map  unsigned. 

1.  November  30,  1862. 

2.  January  5,  1862. 

3.  March  26,  1862. 

4.  May  2,  1862.* 

5.  May  14,  1862.* 

6.  May  15,  1862.* 

7.  Following  Monday,  1862. 

8.  September  9,  1862.* 

9.  October  — ,  1862. 

The  letter  to  Stanton  is  on  file  at  the  office  of  the  Attorney 
General,  certified  as  copied  from  the  documents  furnished  by  the 
War  Department  in  1885. 

(The  letter  of  October,  1862,  was  also  accompanied  by  a  mili 
tary  map,  "approved  and  adopted  by  the  Secretary  of  War  and 


PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN.  83 

the  President  and  immediately  sent  out  to  the  proper  military 
authority."  See  letter  of  B.  F.  Wade,  page  24,  Mis.  Doc.  58, 
of  Memorial,  May  18,  1878.) 

SECOND    DIVISION. 

August  25,  1862. 

January  31,  1863. 

October  7,  1863. 

January  n,  1864. 
,  1865. 

A  letter,  on  file  from  Robert  Lincoln,  states  that  the  papers  of 
the  second  division  were  returned  to  Miss  Carroll,  March  10, 
1869. 

Miss  Carroll's  first  paper,  addressed  to  the  War  Depart 
ment,  for  a  campaign  on  the  Tennessee  river  and  thence 
south,  placed  in  the  hands  of  Hon.  Thomas  A.  Scott,  As 
sistant  Secretary  of  War,  the  3oth  of  November,  1861,  with 
accompanying  map,  is  as  follows  : 

"The  civil  and  military  authorities  seem  to  be  laboring 
under  a  great  mistake  in  regard  to  the  true  key  to  the  war 
in  the  southwest.  //  is  not  the  Mississippi,  but  the  Tennes 
see  river.  All  the  military  preparations  made  in  the  West 
indicate  that  the  Mississippi  river  is  the  point  to  which  the 
authorities  are  directing  their  attention.  On  that  river 
many  battles  must  be  fought  and  heavy  risks  incurred  be 
fore  any  impression  can  be  made  on  the  enemy,  all  of  which 
could  be  avoided  by  using  the  Tennessee  river.  This  river 
is  navigable  for  middle-class  boats  to  the  foot  of  the  Muscle 
Shoals,  in  Alabama,  and  is  open  to  navigation  all  the  year, 
while  the  distance  is  but  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  by 


84  PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN. 

the  river,  from  Paducah,  on  the  Ohio.  The  Tennessee 
offers  many  advantages  over  the  Mississippi.  We  should 
avoid  the  almost  impregnable  batteries  of  the  enemy,  which 
cannot  be  taken  without  great  danger  and  great  risk  of 
life  to  our  forces,  from  the  fact  that  our  boats,  if  crippled, 
would  fall  a  prey  to  the  enemy  by  being  swept  by  the  cur 
rent  to  him  and  away  from  the  relief  of  our  friends ;  but 
even  should  we  succeed,  still  we  will  only  have  begun  the 
war,  for  we  shall  then  fight  for  the  country  from  whence 
the  enemy  derives  his  supplies. 

"  Now  an  advance  up  the  Tennessee  river  would  avoid  this 
danger,  for  if  our  boats  were  crippled,  they  would  drop  back 
with  the  current  and  escape  capture  ;  but  a  still  greater  ad 
vantage  would  be  its  tendency  to  cut  the  enemy1  s  lines  in 
two  by  reaching  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  railroad, 
threatening  Memphis,  which  lies  one  hundred  miles  due 
west,  and  no  defensible  point  between  ;  also  Nashville,  only 
ninety  miles  northeast,  and  Florence  and  Tuscumbia,  in 
North  Alabama,  forty  miles  east. 

"A  movement  in  this  direction  would  do  more  to  relieve 
our  friends  in  Kentucky  and  inspire  the  loyal  hearts  in  East 
Tennessee  than  the  possession  of  the  whole  of  the  Missis 
sippi  river.  If  well  executed  it  would  cause  the  evacuation 
of  all  these  formidable  fortifications  upon  which  the  rebels 
ground  their  hopes  for  success  ;  and  in  the  event  of  our  fleet 
attacking  Mobile,  the  presence  of  our  troops  in  the  northern 
part  of  Alabama  would  be  material  aid  to  the  fleet. 

"Again,  the  aid  our  forces  would  receive  from  the  loyal 
men  in  Tennessee  would  enable  them  soon  to  crush  the  last 


PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN.  85 

traitor  in  that  region,  and  the  separation  of  the  two  extremes 
would  do  more  than  one  hundred  battles  for  the  Union 
cause. 

"The  Tennessee  river  is  crossed  by  the  Memphis  and 
Louisville  railroad  and  the  Memphis  and  Nashville  railroad. 
At  Hamburg  the  river  makes  the  big  bend  on  the  east, 
touching  the  northeast  corner  of  Mississippi,  entering  the 
northwest  corner  of  Alabama,  forming  an  arc  to  the  South, 
entering  the  State  of  Tennessee  at  the  northeast  corner  of 
Alabama,  and  if  it  does  not  touch  the  northwest  corner  of 
Georgia  comes  very  near  it. 

"It  is  but  eight  miles  from  Hamburg  to  the  Memphis  and 
Charleston  railroad,  which  goes  through  Tuscumbia,  only 
two  miles  from  the  river,  which  it  crosses  at  Decatur,  thirty 
miles  above,  intersecting  with  the  Nashville  and  Chatta 
nooga  road  at  Stevenson.  The  Tennessee  river  has  never 
less  than  three  feet  to  Hamburg  on  the  shoalest  bar,  and 
during  the  fall,  winter,  and  spring  months  there  is  always 
water  for  the  largest  boats  that  are  used  on  the  Mississippi 
river. 

"It  follows,  from  the  above  facts,  that  in  making  the  Mis 
sissippi  the  key  to  the  war  in  the  West,  or  rather  in  over 
looking  the  Tennessee  river,  the  subject  is  not  understood 
by  the  superiors  in  command." 

Extracts  from  a  second  paper,  January  5,  1862,  giving 
additional  particulars  for  the  advance  up  the  Tennessee : 

"  Plaving  given  you  my  views  of  the  Tennessee  river  on 
my  return  from  the  West,  showing  that  this  river  is  the  true 


86  PLAN    OF   CAMPAIGN. 

strategical  key  to  overcome  the  rebels  in  the  southwest,  I 
beg  again  to  recur  to  the  importance  of  its  adoption.  This 
river  is  never  impeded  by  ice  in  the  coldest  winter,  as  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Cumberland  sometimes  are.  I  ascer 
tained,  when  in  St.  Louis,  that  the  gunboats  then  fitting 
out  could  not  retreat  against  the  current  of  the  western 
rivers,  and  so  stated  to  you;  besides,  their  principal  guns 
are  placed  forward  and  will  not  be  very  efficient  against  an 
enemy  below  them.  The  fighting  would  have  to  be  done 
by  their  stern  guns — only  two ;  or  if  they  anchored  by  the 
stern  they  would  lose  the  advantage  of  motion,  which  would 
prevent  the  enemy  from  getting  their  range.  Our  gunboats 
at  anchor  would  be  a  target  which  the  enemy  will  not  be 
slow  to  improve  and  benefit  thereby. 

"The  Tennessee  river,  beginning  at  Paducah  fifty  miles 
above  Cairo,  after  leaving  the  Ohio,  runs  across  south-south 
east,  rather  than  through  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  until  it 
reaches  the  Mississippi  line  directly  west  of  Florence  and 
Tuscumbia,  which  lie  fifty  miles  east,  and  Memphis,  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  west,  with  the  Charleston 
and  Memphis  railroad  eight  miles  from  the  river.  There 
is  no  difficulty  in  reaching  this  point  at  any  time  of  the  year, 
and  the  water  is  known  to  be  deeper  than  on  the  Ohio. 

"  If  you  will  look  on  the  map  of  the  Western  States  you 
will  see  in  what  a  position  Buckner  would  be  placed  by  a 
strong  advance  up  the  Tennessee  river.  He  would  be 
obliged  to  back  out  of  Kentucky,  or,  if  he  did  not,  our 
forces  could  take  Nashville  in  his  rear  and  compel  him  to 
lay  down  his  arms." 


PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN.  87 

Testimony  of  Thomas  A.  Scott,  Assistant  Secretary  of 
War,  to  Hon.  Jacob  M.  Howard,  chairman  of  the  Military 
Committee,  to  consider  the  claim  presented  by  Miss  Carroll 
in  1870  : 

PHILADELPHIA,  June  24,  1870. 

On  or  about  the  3oth  of  November,  1861,  Miss  Carroll, 
as  stated  in  her  memorial,  called  on  me,  as  the  Assistant 
Secretary  of  War,  and  suggested  the  propriety  of  abandon 
ing  the  expedition  which  was  then  preparing  to  descend 
the  Mississippi,  and  to  adopt  instead  the  Tennessee  river, 
and  handed  to  me  the  plan  of  campaign,  as  appended  to 
her  memorial ;  which  plan  I  submitted  to  the  Secretary  of 
War,  and  its  general  ideas  were  adopted.  On  my  return 
from  the  southwest  in  1862  I  informed  Miss  Carroll,  as  she 
stales  in  her  memorial,  that  through  the  adoption  of  this 
plan  the  county  had  been  saved  millions,  and  that  it  en 
titled  her  to  the  kind  consideration  of  Congress. 

THOMAS  A.  SCOTT. 

To  the  Military  Committee,  appointed  for  that  purpose 
in  1872  : 

Hon.  JACOB  M.   HOWARD,  of  the  Military  Committee    or 

the  United  States  Senate. 

Again  : 

PHILADELPHIA,  May  i,  1872. 
MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

I  take  pleasure  in  stating  that  the  plan  presented  by  Miss 
Carroll  in  November,  1861,  for  a  campaign  upon  the  Ten 
nessee  river  and  thence  south,  was  submitted  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  War  and  President  Lincoln,  and  after  Secretary 
Stan  ton's  appointment  I  was  directed  to  go  to  the  Western 
armies  and  arrange  to  increase  their  effective  force  as 


88  PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN. 

rapidly  as  possible.  A  part  of  the  duty  assigned  me  was 
the  organization  and  consolidation  into  regiments  of  all  the 
troops  then  being  recruited  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and 
Michigan,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  through  this  cam 
paign,  then  inaugurated.  This  work  was  vigorously  prose 
cuted  by  the  army,  and  as  the  valuable  suggestions  of  Miss 
Carroll,  made  to  the  Department  some  months  before,  were 
substantially  carried  out  through  the  campaigns  in  that 
section,  great  success  followed,  and  the  country  was  largely 
benefited  in  the  saving  of  time  and  expenditure. 

I  hope  Congress  will  reward  Miss  Carroll  liberally  for 
her  patriotic  efforts  and  services. 
Very  truly  yours, 

THOMAS  A.  SCOTT. 


Letter  from  the  Hon.  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  appended  to 
the  report  of  General  Bragg,  of  the  Military  Committee,  of 
March  3,  1881  : 

DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  • 

I  had  no  part  in  getting  up  the  Committee  [on  the  Con 
duct  of  the  War].  The  first  intimation  to  me  was  that  I 
had  been  made  the  head  of  it ;  but  I  never  shirked  a  public 
duty,  and  at  once  went  to  work  to  do  all  that  was  possible 
to  save  the  country.  We  went  fully  into  the  examination 
of  the  several  plans  for  military  operations  then  known  to 
the  Government,  and  we  saw  plainly  enough  that  the  time 
it  must  take  to  execute  any  of  them  would  make  it  fatal  to 
the  Union. 

We  were  in  the  deepest  despair,  until  just  at  this  time 
Colonel  Scott  informed  me  that  there  was  a  plan  already 
devised  which,  if  executed  with  secrecy,  would  open  the 
Tennessee  and  save  the  national  cause.  I  went  immedi 
ately  to  Mr.  Lincoln  and  talked  the  whole  matter  over. 


PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN.  89 

He  said  he  did  not  himself  doubt  that  the  plan  was  feasible, 
but  said  there  was  one  difficulty  in  the  way  ;  that  no  mili 
tary  or  naval  man  had  any  idea  of  such  a  movement,  it 
being  the  work  of  a  civilian,  and  none  of  them  would  be 
lieve  it  safe  to  make  such  an  advance  upon  only  a  navigable 
river,  with  no  protection  but  a  gunboat  fleet,  and  they  would 
not  want  to  take  the  risk.  He  said  it  was  devised  by  Miss 
Carroll,  and  military  men  were  extremely  jealous  of  all  out 
side  interference.  I  pleaded  earnestly  with  him,  for  I  found 
there  were  influences  in  his  Cabinet  then  averse  to  his  taking 
the  responsibility,  and  wanting  everything  done  in  defer 
ence  to  the  views  of  McClellan  and  Halleck.  I  said  to  Mr. 
Lincoln:  "You  know  we  are  now  in  the  last  extremity, 
and  you  have  to  choose  between  adopting  and  at  once  exe 
cuting  a  plan  which  you  believe  to  be  the  right  one  and 
save  the  country,  or  defer  to  the  opinions  of  military  men 
in  command  and  lose  the  country."  He  finally  decided 
he  would  take  the  initiative  ;  but  there  was  Mr.  Bates,  who 
had  suggested  the  gunboat  fleet,  and  wanted  to  advance 
down  the  Mississippi,  as  originally  designed  ;  but  after  a 
little  he  came  to  see  that  no  result  could  be  achieved  on 
that  mode, of  attack,  and  he  united  with  us  in  favor  of  the 
change  of  expedition  as  you  recommended. 

After  repeated  talks  with  Mr.  Stan  ton  I  was  entirely  con 
vinced  that,  if  placed  at  the  head  of  the  War  Department, 
he  would  have  your  plan  executed  vigorously,  as  he  fully 
believed  it  was  the  only  means  of  safety,  as  I  did.  Mr. 
Lincoln,  on  my  suggesting  Stanton,  asked  me  how  the  lead 
ing  Republicans  would  take  it ;  that  Stanton  was  fresh  from 
the  Buchanan  Cabinet,  and  many  things  were  said  of  him.* 
I  insisted  he  was  our  man  withal,  and  brought  him  and 
Lincoln  into  communication,  and  Lincoln  was  entirely 

*  Stanton  had  been  the  bitterest  of  Democrats.  The  Republicans  then 
knew  nothing  certainly  of  his  course  in  Buchanan's  Cabinet.  His  appoint 
ment  surprised  the  .Senate.  Wade  knew  and  endorsed  him  there.  That 
was  sufficient.— Riddle's  Life  of  Wade. 


90  PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN. 

satisfied.  But  so  soon  as  it  got  out,  the  doubters  came  to 
the  front.  Senators  and  members  called  on  me.  I  sent 
them  to  Stanton  and  told  them  to  decide  for  themselves. 
The  gunboats  were  then  nearly  ready  for  the  Mississippi 
expedition,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  agreed,  as  soon  as  they  were, 
to  start  the  Tennessee  movement.  It  was  determined  that 
as  soon  as  Mr.  Stanton  came  into  the  Department,  then 
Colonel  Scott  should  go  out  to  the  Western  armies  and 
make  ready  for  the  campaign  in  pursuance  of  your  plan,  as 
he  has  testified  before  committees.  It  was  a  great  work  to 
get  the  matter  started  ;  you  have  no  idea -of  it.  We  almost 
fought  for  it.  If  ever  there  was  a  righteous  claim  on  earth, 
you  have  one.  I  have  often  been  sorry  that,  knowing  all 
this  as  I  did  then,  I  had  not  publicly  declared  you  as  the 
author  ;  but  we  were  fully  alive  to  the  importance  of  abso 
lute  secrecy.  I  trusted  but  few  of  our  people  ;  but  to  pacify 
the  country  I  announced  from  the  Senate  that  the  armies 
were  about  to  move,  and  inaction  was  no  longer  to  be  toler 
ated.  Mr.  Fessenden,  head  of  the  Finance  Committee,  who 
had  been  told  of  the  proposed  advance,  also  stated  in  the 
Senate  that  what  would  be  achieved  in  a  few  more  days 
would  satisfy  the  country  and  astound  the  world. 

As  the  expedition  advanced,  Mr.  Lincoln,  Mr.  Stanton, 
and  myself  frequently  alluded  to  your  extraordinary  sagacity 
and  unselfish  patriotism,  but  all  agreed  that  you  should  be 
recognized  for  your  most  noble  service  and  properly  re 
warded  for  the  same. 

The  last  time  I  saw  Mr.  Stanton  he  was  on  his  death 
bed  ;  he  was  then  most  earnest  in  his  desire  to  have  you 
come  before  Congress,  as  I  told  you  soon  after,  and  said 
that  if  he  lived  he  would  see  that  justice  was  awarded  you. 
This  I  have  told  you  often  since,  and  I  believe  the  truth  in 
this  matter  will  finally  prevail. 

B.  F.  WADE. 


PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN.  91 

JEFFERSON,  OHIO,  July  27,  1876. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

Yours  of  the  22nd  is  at  hand  and  its  contents  noticed, 
but  I  cannot  perceive,  myself,  that  it  is  necessary  for  you  to 
procure  any  further  testimony  to  prove  to  all  unprejudiced 
minds  that  you  were  the  first  to  discover  the  importance  of 
the  Tennessee  river  in  a  military  point  of  view,  and  was  the 
first  to  discover  that  said  river  was  navigable  for  heavy  gun 
boats  ;  and  to  ascertain  these  important  facts  you  .made  a 
journey  to  that  region,  and  with  great  labor  and  expense, 
by  examination  of  pilots  and  others,  and  that  with  these 
facts  you  drew  up  a  plan  of  campaign  which  you,  I  think, 
first  exhibited  to  Colonel  Scott,  who  was  then  Assistant 
Secretary  of  War,  which  was  shown  to  the  President  and 
Mr.  Stanton,  which  information  and  plan  caused  the  im 
mediate  change  of  the  campaign  from  the  Mississippi  to  the 
Tennessee  river,  and  this  change,  with  all  the  immense  ad 
vantages  to  the  national  cause,  was  solely  due  to  your  labor 
and  sagacity.  I  do  not  regard  it  as  an  impeachment  of  the 
military  sagacity  of  the  officers  on  either  side  that  they  had 
not  seen  all  this  before,  but  I  suppose  none  of  them  knew 
or  believed- the  Tennessee  river  to  be  navigable  for  such 
craft,  for  had  the  Confederate  officers  known  all  this  it 
would  have  been  easy  for  them  to  have  so  fortified  its  banks 
as  to  have  made  such  an  expedition  impossible. 

Now  all  the  above  facts  are  proved  beyond  doubt,  unless 
the  witnesses  are  impeached;  but  all  should  bear  in 
mind  that  when  the  Government  had  concluded  to  make 
this  important  change  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Tennessee 
the  utmost  secrecy  was  absolutely  necessary  or  the  whole 
plan  might  have  been  frustrated  by  the  enemy,  and  it  was 
so  kept  that  even  members  of  Congress  and  Senators  never 
could  ascertain  who  was  entitled  to  the  honor  of  the  plan, 
as  can  be  seen  by  their  endeavors  to  find  out  by  consulting 


92  PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN. 

the  Congressional  Globe,  etc.  *  *  *  Where  is  Judge 
Evans  and  how  is  his  health  ?  I  am  anxious  to  hear  from 
him,  whom  I  regard  as  one  of  the  best  of  men.  Give  him 
my  best  respects. 

Truly  yours, 

B.  F.  WADE. 


WESTMINSTER  PALACE  HOTEL, 

LONDON,  November  29,  1875. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

I  remember  very  well  that  you  were  the  first  to  advise  the 
campaign  on  the  Tennessee  river  in  November,  1861. 
This  I  have  never  heard  doubted,  and  the  great  events 
which  followed  it  demonstrated  the  value  of  your  sugges 
tions.  This  will  be  recognized  by  our  Government,  sooner 
or  later,  I  cannnot  doubt.  On  reaching  home  I  hope  to 
shake  you  by  the  hand  once  more. 
Sincerely  your  friend, 

REVERDY  JOHNSON. 

Discussions  in  Congress  Showing  the  Critical  Nature  of  the 
Situation. 

IN  THE  HOUSE,  January  7,  1862. 

Mr.  KELLEY  :  I  think  the  condition  of  this  Capital  to-day 
invites  war.  It  is  environed  within  a  narrow  circle  of  two 
hundred  thousand  men  in  arms,  and  yet,  sir,  that  short  river 
which  leads  to  the  Capital  of  a  great  and  proud  country,  thus 
defended  and  encircled  by  patriot  troops,  is  so  thoroughly 
blockaded  by  rebels  that  the  Government,  though  its  army 
has  not  an  adequate  supply  of  forage,  cannot  bring  upon  it 
a  peck  of  oats  to  feed  a  hungry  horse.  *  *  *  Call  it  what 


PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN.  93 

you  may,  it  is  a  sight  at  which  men  may  well  wonder. 
We  have  six  hundred  thousand  men  in  the  field.  We  have 
spent  I  know  not  how  many  millions  of  dollars,  and  what 
have  we  done  ?  What  one  evidence  of  determined  war  or 
military  skill  have  we  exhibited  to  foreign  nations,  or  to  our 
own  people  ?  *  *  *  We  have  been  engaged  in  war  for 
seven  months.  *  *  *  England  does  respect  power. 
*  *  *  Let  her  hear  the  shouts  of  a  victorious  army,  and 
England  and  the  powers  of  the  continent  will  pause 
with  bated  breath.  Sir,  it  was  said  yesterday  the  last  days 
had  come.  My  heart  has  felt  the  last  day  of  our  dear 
country  was  rapidly  approaching.  Before  we  have  reached 
victory  we  have  reached  bankruptcy.  We  are  to-day  flood 
ing  the  country  with  an  irredeemable  currency.  In  ninety 
days,  with  the  patriotism  of  the  people  paralyzed  by  the 
inaction  of  our  great  army,  the  funded  debt  of  the  country 
will  depreciate  with  a  rapidity  that  will  startle  us.  In 
ninety  days  more  the  nations  of  the  world  will,  I  fear,  be 
justified  in  saying  to  us,  "  You  have  no  more  right  to  shut 
up  the  cotton  fields  of  the  world  by  a  vain  and  fruitless 
effort  to  reconquer  the  territory  now  in  rebellion  than 
China  or  Japan  has  to  wall  themselves  in,  and  in  the  eyes 
of  international  law,  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and,  I 
fear,  in  the  eyes  of  impartial  history,  they  will  be  justified 
in  breaking  our  blockade  and  giving  to  the  rebels  means 
and  munitions  of  war.  *  *  *  But,  sir,  in  less  than 
ninety  days,  to  come  back  to  the  point  of  time,  we  shall 
be  advancing  in  the  month  of  April,  when  Northern  men 
will  begin  to  feel  the  effects  of  heat  in  the  neighborhood 


94  PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN. 

of  Ship  Island  and  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  Looking 
at  the  period  of  ninety  days,  I  say  it  is  not  a  double  but  a 
triple  edged  sword  approaching,  perhaps,  the  single  thread 
of  destiny  upon  which  the  welfare  of  our  country  hangs. 
Bankruptcy  and  miasmatic  pestilence  are  sure  to  come 
within  the  lapse  of  that  period,  and  foreign  war  may  add 
its  horror  to  theirs. 

Mr.  WRIGHT  :  We  are  gasping  for  life.  This  great  Gov 
ernment  is  upon  the  brink  of  a  volcano,  which  is  heaving 
to  and  fro,  and  we  are  not  certain  whether  we  exist  or  no. 

Mr.  F.  A.  CONKLING  :  In  this  crisis  of  our  history,  when 
the  very  existence  of  the  Republic  is  threatened,  when  in 
all  human  probability  the  next  thirty  days  will  decide  for 
ever  whether  the  Union  is  to  maintain  its  place  among  the 
powers  of  the  earth  or  whether  it  is  to  go  down  and  con 
stitutional  liberty  is  to  perish.  *  *  * 

IN  THE  HOUSE,  January  20,  1862. 
Mr.  WRIGHT  :  There  is  one  great  abiding  and  powerful 
issue  to-day,  and  that  is  the  issue  whether  the  country  and 
the  Constitution  shall  be  saved  or  whether  it  shall  be  utterly 
and  entirely  annihilated.  With  Pennsylvania  it  is  a 
question  of  national  existence,  of  life  or  death.  *  *  * 
The  great  heart  of  Pennsylvania  is  beating  to-day  for  the 
cause  of  the  Union.  *  *  *  It  is  to  decide  the  great 
question  whether  the  liberty  which  has  been  handed  down 
to  us  by  our  fathers  shall  be  permitted  to  remain  in  the  land, 
or  whether  chaos  or  desolation  shall  blot  out  the  country 
and  Government  forever. 


PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN.  95 

IN  THE  SENATE,  January  22,  1862. 
Mr.  WADE  :  But,  sir,  though  the  war  lies  dormant,  still 
there  is  war,  and  it  is  not  intended  that  it  shall  stay  in  this 
quiescent  state  much  longer.  The  committee  to  which  I 
belong  are  determined  *  *  *  that  it  shall  move  with 
energy.  If  the  Congress  will  not  give  us,  or  give  them 
selves,  power  to  act  with  efficiency  in  war,  we  must  confide 
everything  to  the  Executive  Government  and  let  them  usurp 
everything.  If  you  would  not  fix  your  machinery  so  that 
you  might  advise  with  me  and  act  with  me,  *  *  *  I 
would  act  independent  of  you,  and  you  might  call  it  what 
you  please.  This  is  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  and 
the  measures  that  we  are  to  sit  in  secrecy  upon  look  to 
that  end  and  none  other.  No  measure  rises  in  importance 
above  that  connected  with  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion. 

*  *     *     \ve  stand  here  for  the  people  and  we  act  for  them. 

#  *     #     There  is  no  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  any 
secrecy  which,  in  the  consideration  of  war  measures,  we 
may  deem -it  proper  to  adopt.     It  is  proper  for  us,  as  it  is 
for   the   general    in    the    field,  as    it   is  for  your  Cabinet 
ministers,  to  discuss  matters  in  secret  when  they  pertain  to 
war. 

IN  THE  HOUSE,  January  22,  1862. 
Mr.  THADDEUS  STEVENS  :  *  *  *  Remember  that 
every  day's  delay  costs  the  nation  $1,500,000  and  hundreds 
of  lives.  *  *  *  What  an  awful  responsibility  rests  upon 
those  in  authority;  their  mistakes  may  bring  mourning  to 
the  land  and  sorrow  to  many  a  fireside.  *  *  *  If  we 
cannot  save  our  honor,  save  at  least  the  lives  and  the  treas 
ure  of  the  nation. 


96  PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN. 

About  this  time  Miss  Carroll  was  spoken  of  by  those 
conversant  with  her  plans  as  "the  great  unrecognized  mem 
ber  of  Lincoln's  Cabinet. ' '  But,  glorious  as  was  the  success, 
Miss  Carroll's  plans  were  not  .fully  carried  out,  to  the  great 
after  regret  of  the  War  Department,  who  recognized  that 
the  war,  which  might  then  have  been  brought  to  a  speedy 
termination,  had  been  greatly  prolonged  through  the  omis 
sion. 

Miss  Carroll  continued  her  communications  to  the  War 
Department,  endeavoring  to  rectify  mistakes. 

Extract  from  Miss  Carroll's  letter  to  the  Department  on 
the  reduction  of  Island  No.  10,  and  pointing  out  the  ad 
vantages  of  the  immediate  seizure  of  the  Memphis  and 
Charleston  railroad,  March  26,  1862. 

"The  failure  to  take  Island  No.  10,  which  thus  far  oc 
casions  much  disappointment  to  the  country,  excites  no  sur 
prise  in  me.  When  I  looked  at  the  gunboats  at  St.  Louis 
and  was  informed  as  to  their  power,  and  considered  that  the 
current  of  the  Mississippi  at  full  tide  runs  at  the  rate  of  five 
miles  per  hour,  which  is  very  near  the  speed  of  our  gun 
boats,  I  could  not  resist  the  conclusion  that  they  were  not 
well  fitted  to  the  taking  of  batteries  on  the  Mississippi  river 
if  assisted  by  gunboats  perhaps  equal  to  our  own.  Hence 
it  was  that  I  wrote  Colonel  Scott  from  there  that  the  Ten 
nessee  was  our  strategic  point,  and  the  successes  at  Fort 
Henry  and  Donelson  established  the  justice  of  these  obser- 
tions.  Had  our  victorious  army,  after  the  fall  of  Fort 
Henry,  immediately  pushed  up  the  Tennessee  river  and 


PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN.  97 

taken  a  position  on  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  railroad, 
between  Corinth,  Mississippi,  and  Decatur,  Alabama,  which 
might  easily  have  been  done  at  that  time  with  a  small  force, 
every  rebel  soldier  in  Western  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 
would  have  fled  from  every  position  to  the  south  of  that 
railroad  ;  and  had  Bueli  pursued  the  enemy  in  his  retreat 
from  Nashville,  without  delay,  into  a  commanding  position 
in  North  Alabama,  on  the  railroad  between  Chattanooga 
and  Decatur,  the  rebel  government  at  Richmond  would 
have  necessarily  been  obliged  to  retreat  to  the  cotton  States. 

I  am  fully  satisfied  that  the  true  policy  of  General  H 

is  to  strengthen  Grant's  column  by  such  force  as  will  enable 
him  at  once  to  seize  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  railroad, 
as  it  is  the  readiest  means  of  reducing  Island  10  and  all 
the  strongholds  of  the  enemy  to  Memphis." 

Letter  written  from  St.  Louis,  military  headquarters  for 
the  Southwest : 

*  ST.  Louis,  May  2,  1862. 

"I  think  the  war  on  the  approaches  to  the  Tennessee 
river  has  ended.  I  think  the  enemy  will  retreat  to  the 
Grand  Junction,  some  sixty  miles  nearer  Memphis;  and 
when  our  forces  approach  him  there,  he  will  go  down  the 
Central  Mississippi  railroad  to  Jackson,  and  if  there  is 
another  great  battle  in  the  West  it  will  be  there.  I  think 
they  will  try  to  postpone  anything  serious  until  after  the 
pending  battles  in  Virginia.  If  they  make  the  attempt  now 
every  leader  would  be  taken  in  the  event  of  defeat,  without 

*  Copied  by  me  on  March  23,  1891,  from  the  file  at  the  office  of  the  Attorney 
General.  S.  E.  BLACKWELL. 

7C 


98  PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN. 

fail,  whilst  if  it  is  postponed  until  after  the  fate  of  Virginia 
is  decided  the  leaders  can  bring  what  troops  they  have  left 
and,  joining  them  to  what  they  have  here,  make  one  last 
struggle  for  life,  and  if  defeated  they  can  escape  across  the 
Mississippi  into  Arkansas,  and  through  that  into  Texas  and 
Mexico.  You  may  rest  assured  the  leaders  will  not  be 
caught  if  they  can  get  away  with  life  ;  and  as  to  property, 
they  have  that  secured  already.  The  only  way  this  plan 
can  be  frustrated  is  to  occupy  Memphis  and  Vicksburg 
strongly,  particularly  the  latter,  and  send  one  or  more  of 
our  gunboats  up  the  Yazoo  river  to  watch  every  creek  and 
inlet,  so  that  they  may  be  unable  to  get  across  the  swamps 
by  canoes  and  skiffs. 

"I  have  heard  that  all  the  skiffs  and  canoes  have  been  taken 
from  Memphis  and  Vicksburg  to  some  point  up  the  Yazoo 
river  and  fitted  up,  for  what  purpose  I  do  not  know,  but  I 
can  think  there  is  no  other  than  what  I  name,  for  one  night'' 's 
ride  from  Jackson  will  carry  a  man  to  the  edge  of  the  Yazoo 
river  swamps,  where  it  would  be  impossible  to  follow  unless 
equally  well  acquainted  and  with  boats  like  theirs.  From 
there  their  escape  would  be  easy,  as  they  would  have  400 
miles  of  the  river  to  strike,  at  any  part  of  which  they  would 
find  friends  to  assist  them  over  to  the  Arkansas  side  of  the 
river,  and  from  there  pursuit  would  be  useless." 

*  Letter  from  Miss  Carroll  to  Secretary  Stanton  : 

May  14,  1862. 
Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War : 

It  will  be  the  obvious  policy  of  the  rebels,  in  the  event 

*  Written  to  recommend  Pilot  Scott  for  information  given. 


PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN.  99 

of  Beauregard's  defeat,  to  send  a  large  column  into  Texas 
for  the  purpose  of  holding  that  country  for  subsistence, 
where  beef  and  wheat  abound.  Now,  all  this  can  be  de 
feated  by  strongly  occupying  Vicksburg  and  plying  a  gun 
boat  or  two  on  the  Yazoo  river.  I  would  also  suggest  a 
gunboat  to  be  placed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Red  and  Arkan 
sas  rivers.  Whether  the  impending  battle  in  North  Missis 
sippi  should  occur  at  Corinth  or  within  the  area  of  a  hun 
dred  miles,  a  large  part  of  the  enemy's  forces  will  retreat 
by  the  Yazoo  river  and  by  the  railroad  to  Vicksburg,  on  the 
Mississippi,  and  will  then  take  the  railroad  through  Louisi 
ana  into  Texas.  I  handed  Honorable  Mr.  Watson  on 
Monday  a  letter  giving  information  that  the  canoes,  skiffs, 
and  other  transports  had  been  sent  up  the  Yazoo  river  from 
Memphis  and  Vicksburg  for  the  purpose,  undoubtedly,  of 
securing  the  rebels'  retreat  from  our  pursuing  army. 

This  information  I  obtained  from  Mr.  Scott,  a  pilot  on 
the  Memphis,  which  conducted  the  retreat  of  the  soldiers 
at  the  battle  of  Belmont,  and  had  been  with  the  fleet  in  the 
same  capacity  up  the  Tennessee  river.  Until  June  last  he 
resided  in  New  Orleans,  and  for  twenty  years  or  more  has 
been  in  his  present  employment.  His  wife  stated  this  to 
me,  and  with  a  view  of  obtaining  facts  about  that  section 
of  country  I  requested  her  to  introduce  him  to  me.  I  was 
surprised  at  his  general  intelligence  in  regard  to  the  war, 
and  from  the  facts  I  derived  from  him  and  other  practical 
men  I  satisfied  myself  that  the  Tennessee  river  was  the  true 
strategic  point,  and  submitted  a  document  to  this  effect  to 
Hon.  Thomas  A.  Scott,  dated  the  3oth  of  November,  1861, 
which  changed  the  whole  programme  of  the  war  in  the 
Southwest,  and  inured  to  the  glory  of  our  arms  in  that  sec 
tion  and  throughout  the  land.  The  Government  is  not 
aware  of  the  incalculable  service  rendered  by  the  facts  I 
learned  from  this  pilot,  and  I  therefore  take  the  present 
occasion  to  ask  his  promotion  to  the  surveyorship  of  New 


100  PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN. 

Orleans,  for  which  I  should  think  him  well  suited  in  this 
crisis. 

I  enclose  you  a  letter  describing  the  battle  of  Pittsburg 
Landing,  which  will  interest  you. 
Very  sincerely, 

ANNA  ELLA  CARROLL. 


Extract  from  the  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War  on  the 
1 5th  of  May,  1862,  advising  the  occupation  of  Vicksburg  : 

*  *  *  "it  will  be  the  obvious  policy  of  the  rebels, 
in  the  event  of  Beauregard's  defeat,  to  send  a  large  column 
into  Texas  for  the  purpose  of  holding  that  country  for  sub 
sistence,  where  beef  and  wheat  abound.  This  can  be  de 
feated  by  strongly  occupying  Vicksburg  and  plying  a  gun 
boat,  to  be  placed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Red  and  Arkansas 
rivers."  *  *  *  "  Whether  the  impending  battle  in 
North  Mississippi  should  occur  at  Corinth  or  within  the 
area  of  a  hundred  miles,  a  large  part  of  the  enemy's  forces 
will  retreat  by  the  Yazoo  river,  and  by  the  railroad  to 
Vicksburg,  on  the  Mississippi,  and  will  take  the  railroad 
through  Louisiana  into  Texas." 


On  the  following  Monday  Miss  Carroll  handed  Mr. 
Watson  a  letter  giving  information  that  the  canoes,  skiffs, 
and  other  transports  had  been  sent  up  the  Yazoo  from 
Memphis  and  Vicksburg  for  the  purpose,  undoubtedly,  of 
securing  the  rebels'  retreat  from  our  pursuing  army. 


PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN. 


•101 


Letter  from  the  file  of  the  Attorney  General,  Court  of 
Claims  :  * 
Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War  : 

SIR  :  I  find  that  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  President 
are  violently  assailed  for  arresting  certain  parties  in  the 
loyal  States  and  suspending  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  It 
is  represented  that  a  high  judicial  officer  in  the  State  of 
Vermont  has  taken  issue  with  the  Administration  on  this  ques 
tion.  It  is  also  intimated  that  the  State  authorities,  in  Ver 
mont  and  elsewhere,  are  to  be  invoked  for  the  protection 
of  the  citizen  against  military  arrests.  There  is  very  great 
danger  at  this  time  to  be  apprehended  to  the  country  from 
a  conflict  between  the  military  and  the  judicial  authorities, 
because  the  opinion  is  almost  universal  that  the  authority 
to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  rests  with  Congress. 
The  reason  that  this  opinion  has  so  generally  obtained  is 
that  in  England,  whence  we  have  derived  much  of  our  po 
litical  and  judicial  system,  the  power  to  suspend  the  writ 
is  vested  alone  in  Parliament;  and  our  jurists,  without 
reflecting  upon  the  distinction  between  the  constitutions  of 
the  two  Governments,  have  erroneously  made  the  English 
theory  applicable  to  our  own. 

I  believe  in  my  work  on  the  "  War  Powers  of  the  Gov 
ernment,"  etc.,  I  was  the  first  writer  who  has  succeeded 
in  placing  the  power  of  the  Government  to  arrest  for  po 
litical  offences,  and  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus, 
on  its  true  foundation.  In  the  opinion  of  eminent  men, 
if  this  work  were  now  placed  in  the  hands  of  every  lawyer 
and  judge  it  would  stay  the  evil  which  threatens  to  arise 
from  a  conflict  between  the  military  and  judicial  depart 
ments  of  the  country.  I  therefore  respectfully  suggest  the 
propriety  of  authorizing  me  to  circulate  a  large  edition  of 

*  Copied  by  me  from  the  file  at  the  office  of  the  Attornej^  General,  March 
23,  1891.  S.  E.  BLACKWELL. 


PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN. 


this  work,  or,  what  would  be  still  better,  that  I  should  write  a 
new  paper,  specially  on  the  power  of  the  Executive  to  sus 
pend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  to  arrest  political  of 
fenders. 

ANNA  ELLA  CARROLL. 


In  October,  1862,  Miss  Carroll  wrote  the  following  letter 
to  the  Secretary  of  War,  through  the  hands  of  John  Tucker, 
Assistant  Secretary,  on  the  reduction  of  Vicksburg  : 

' '  As  I  understand  an  expedition  is  about  to  go  down  the 
river  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  Vicksburg,  I  have  pre 
pared  the  enclosed  map  in  order  to  demonstrate  more 
clearly  the  obstacles  to  be  encountered  in  the  contemplated 
assault.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  impossible  to  take  Vicksburg 
in  front  without  too  great  a  loss  of  life  and  material,  for  the 
reason  that  the  river  is  only  about  half  a  mile  wide,  and  our 
forces  would  be  in  point-blank  range  of  their  guns,  not  only 
from  their  water  batteries,  which  line  the  shore,  but  from  the 
batteries  that  crown  the  hills,  while  the  enemy  would  be 
protected  by  the  elevation  from  the  range  of  our  fire.  By 
examining  the  map  I  enclose  you  will  at  once  perceive  why 
a  place  of  so  little  apparent  strength  has  been  enabled 
to  resist  the  combined  fleets  of  the  upper  and  lower 
Mississippi.  The  most  economical  plan  for  the  redaction 
of  Vicksburg  now  is  to  push  a  column  from  Memphis  to 
Corinth,  down  the  Mississippi  Central  railroad  to  Jackson, 
the  capital  of  the  State  of  Mississippi.  The  occupation  of 
Jackson  and  the  command  of  the  railroad  to  New  Orleans 
would  compel  the  immediate  evacuation  of  Vicksburg,  as  well 


PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN.  103 

as  the  retreat  of  the  entire  rebel  army  east  of  that  line,  and 
by  another  movement  of  our  army  from  Jackson,  Mississippi, 
or  from  Corinth  to  Meridian,  in  the  State  of  Mississippi,  on 
the  Ohio  and  Mobile  railroad,  especially  if  aided  by  a 
movement  of  our  gunboats  on  Mobile,  the  Confederate 
forces,  with  all  the  disloyal  men  and  their  slaves,  would  be 
compelled  to  fly  east  of  the  Tombigbee.  Mobile  being  then 
in  our  possession,  with  100,000  men  at  Meridian  we  would 
redeem  the  entire  country  from  Memphis  to  the  Tombigbee 
river.  Of  course  I  would  have  the  gunboats  with  a  small 
force  at  Vicksburg  as  auxiliary  to  this  movement.  With  re 
gard  to  the  canal,  Vicksburg  can  be  rendered  useless  to  the 
Confederate  army  upon  the  first  rise  of  the  river ;  but  I  do 
not  advise  this,  because  Vicksburg  belongs  to  the  United 
States  and  we  desire  to  hold  and  fortify  it,  for  the  Missis 
sippi  river  at  Vicksburg  and  the  Vicksburg-Jackson  railroad 
will  become  necessary  as  a  base  of  our  future  operations. 
Vicksburg  might  have  been  reduced  eight  months  ago,  as  I 
then  advised,  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Henry,  and  with  much 
more  ease  than  it  can  be  done  to-day." 


WASHINGTON,  D.   C.,  May  10,  1876. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

Referring  to  the  conversation  with  Judge  Evans  last  even 
ing,  he  called  my  attention  to  Colonel  Scott's  telegram, 
announcing  the  fall  of  Island  No.  10,  in  1862,  as  endorsing 
your  plan,  when  Scott  said  :  "  The  movement  in  the  rear 
has  done  the  work."  I  stated  to  the  Judge,  as  he  and  you 
knew  before,  that  your  paper  on  the  reduction  of  Vicksburg 


104  PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN. 

did  the  work  on  that  place,  after  being  so  long  baffled  and 
with  the  loss  of  so  much  life  and  treasure,  by  trying  to  take 
it  from  the  water  ;  that  to  my  knowledge  your  paper  was 
approved  and  adopted  by  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the 
President,  and  immediately  sent  out  to  the  proper  military 
authority  in  that  Department. 

I  remember  well  their  remarks  upon  it  at  that  time,  and 
of  all  your  other  views  and  suggestions,  made  after  we  got 
the  expedition  inaugurated,  and  know  the  direction  they 
took.  These  matters  were  often  talked  over  as  the  cam 
paign  advanced,  and  in  the  very  last  interview  with  Mr. 
Stanton,  just  before  his  death,  he  referred  to  your  services 
in  originating  the  campaign  in  the  strongest  terms  he  could 
express,  and,  as  I  have  informed  you,  stated  that  if  his  life 
was  spared  he  would  discharge  the  great  duty  of  seeing 
your  services  to  the  country  properly  recognized  and  re 
warded.  But  why  need  I  say  more.  Your  claim  is  estab 
lished  beyond  controversy,  unless  the  witnesses  are  im 
peached,  and  I  hardly  think  they  would  undertake  that 
business.  What  motive  could  any  of  us  have  had  to  mislead 
or  falsify  the  history  of  the  war.  Your  claim  is  righteous 
and  just,  if  ever  there  was  one,  and  for  the  honor  of  my 
country  I  trust  and  hope  you  will  be  suitably  rewarded  and 
so  declared  before  the  world. 
Yours  truly, 

B.  F.  WADE. 


Miss  Carroll's  after  papers,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  were 
mainly  on  emancipation,  on  the  ballot,  and  on  reconstruc 
tion. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


CONGRESSIONAL      REVELATIONS GREAT       RESULTS DISCUS 
SIONS—MISS    CARROLL    PRESENTS    HER     CLAIM POLITICAL 

OPPOSITION — LETTERS    AND    TESTIMONY. 

Very  curious  is  the  picture  revealed  by  the  Congressional 
records.  Fully  as  Lincoln  and  his  Military  Committee 
recognize  the  genius  of  the  remarkable  woman  now  taking 
the  lead,  it  needs  great  courage  to  adopt  her  plans. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Stanton  are  opposed  to  having  it 
known  that  the  armies  are  moving  under  the  plan  of  a 
civilian,  directed  by  the  President  as  Commander-in-Chief. 
Mr.  Lincoln  says  it  was  that  which  made  him  hesitate  to 
inaugurate  the  movement  against  the  opinions  of  the  mili 
tary  commanders,  and  he  says  he  does  not  want  to  risk  the 
effect  it  might  have  upon  the  armies  if  they  found  that  some 
outside  party  had  originated  the  campaign  ;  that  he  wanted 
the  country  and  the  armies  to  believe  they  were  doing  the 
whole  business  in  saving  the  country." 

Judge  Wade  alludes  to  a  remark  about  the  sword  of 
Gideon,  made  by  Secretary  Stanton,  and  says  that  was 
done  to  maintain  the  policy  of  secrecy  as  to  the  origin  of 
the  plan.  Strict  silence  is  counselled  as  absolutely  necces- 
sary,  and  Anna  Ella  Carroll  is  not  the  woman  to  allow  a 
thought  of  self  to  interfere  with  her  plans  for  the  salvation 
of  her  country. 


106  CONGRESSIONAL    REVELATIONS. 

Rapid  and  brilliant  is  the  success  of  that  Tennessee  cam 
paign,  planned  and  supervised  by  that  able  head.  Her  pa 
pers,  as  the  campaign  progresses,  are  as  remarkable  as  the 
original  plan.  On  the  fall  of  Fort  Henry  she  prepares  a  paper 
on  the  feasibility  of  advancing  immediately  on  Mobile  or 
Vicksburg,  without  turning  to  the  right  or  left.  She  carries 
it,  in  person,  to  the  War  Department  and  delivers  it  into 
the  hands  of  Assistant  Secretary  Tucker,  who  takes  it  at 
once  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 

She  exhibits  also  a  copy  of  the  original  plan,  submitted  on 
the  3oth  of  November,  1861. 

Mr.  Tucker  remarks :  "  This  is  prophecy  fulfilled  so  far," 
and  says  he  knows  her  to  be  the  author,  Colonel  Scott  hav 
ing  so  informed  him  before  he  left  for  the  West. 

Notwithstanding  some  blunders  in  the  execution,  the 
campaign  progresses,  as  the  authorities  at  the  War  Office 
testify,  "  mainly  in  accordance  with  Miss  Carroll's  sugges 
tions." 

The  fall  of  Fort  Henry  having  opened  the  navigation  of 
the  Tennessee  river,  its  capture  is  followed  by  the  evacua 
tion  of  Columbus  and  Bowling  Green.  Fort  Donelson  is 
given  up  and  its  garrison  of  14,000  troops  are  marched  out 
as  prisoners  of  war  ;  Pittsburg  Landing  and  Corinth  follow. 
The  Confederate  leaders  discover  with  consternation  that 
the  key  to  the  whole  situation  has  been  found.  All  Europe 
rings  with  the  news  of  victories  that  have  reversed  the 
probabilities  of  the  war. 

On  the  loth  of  April,  four  months  after  the  adoption  of 
Miss  Carroll's  plans,  President  Lincoln  issues  a  proclama- 


CONGRESSIONAL   REVELATIONS.  lOy 

tion  thanking  Almighty  God  for  the  "  signal  victories  which 
have  saved  the  country  from  foreign  intervention  and  in 
vasion." 


THE  FOREIGN  MINISTERS  ARE  ENRAPTURED. 


SEWARD    TO    DAYTON. 

March  6,  1862. 

11  It  is  now  apparent  that  we  are  at  the  beginning  of  the 
end  of  the  attempted  revolution.  Cities,  districts,  and 
States  are  coming  back  under  Federal  authority." 


ADAMS    TO    SEWARD. 

March  6,  1862. 

"  We  are  anxiously  awaiting  the  news  by  every  steamer, 
but  notibr  the  same  reasons  as  before  ;  the  pressure  for  in 
terference  here  has  disappeared." 


DAYTON    TO    SEWARD. 

March  25,  1862. 

"The  Emperor  said  that  he  must  frankly  say  that  when 
the  insurrection  broke  out  and  this  concession  of  belligerent 
rights  was  made  he  did  not  suppose  the  North  would  suc 
ceed  ;  that  it  was  the  general  belief  of  the  statesmen  of 
Europe  that  the  two  sections  would  never  come  together 
again." 


I08  CONGRESSIONAL   REVELATIONS. 

DAYTON    TO    SEWARD. 

March  31,  1862. 

li  I  again  called  the  Emperor's  attention  to  the  propriety 
of  his  Government  retracing  its  steps  in  regard  to  its  con 
cession  to  the  insurrectionists  of  belligerent  rights,  refer 
ring  him  to  the  consideration  in  regard  thereto  contained 
in  your  former  dispatches.  He  said,  '  It  would  scarcely  be 
worthy  of  a  great  power,  now  that  the  South  was  beaten,  to 
withdraw  a  concession  made  to  them  in  the  day  of  their 
strength.'" 

PRESIDENT   LINCOLN'S    PROCLAMATION. 

April  10,  1862. 

"It  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  vouchsafe  signal  vic 
tories  to  the  land  and  naval  forces  engaged  in  suppressing 
an  internal  rebellion,  and  at  the  same  time  to  avert  from 
our  country  the  danger  of  foreign  intervention  and  in 
vasion." 


SEWARD    TO    DAYTON. 

May  7,  1862. 

"  The  proclamation  of  commerce  which  is  made  may  be 
regarded  by  the  maritime  powers  as  an  announcement  that 
the  Republic  has  passed  the  danger  of  disunion." 


Great  enthusiasm  is  felt  at  Washington  and  throughout 
the  country,  as  it  becomes  evident  that  a  brilliant  and  suc 
cessful  plan  has  been  adopted,  and  great  anxiety  is  evinced 
to  find  out  and  reward  the  author. 


CONGRESSIONAL   REVELATIONS.  109 

For  this  purpose  a  lively  debate  takes  place  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  finding  out 
whether  "these  victories  were  arranged  or  won  by  men 
sitting  at  a  distance,  engaged  in  organizing  victory/'  or 
whether  "they  have  been  achieved  by  bold  and  resolute 
men  left  free  to  act  and  to  conquer. ' '  No  one  knows. 

Mr.  Conkling  proposes  to  "  thank  Halleck  and  Grant." 

Mr.  Washburne  thinks  "  General  McClernand  and  Gen 
eral  Logan  should  be  included." 

Mr.  Cox  thinks  "  General  Smith  is  entitled  to  an  equal 
degree  of  the  glory." 

Mr.  Holman  thinks  "  General  Wallace  should  have  a 
fair  share." 

Mr.  Mallory  thinks  "General  Buell  should  not  be  for 
gotten." 

Mr.  Kellogg  thinks  all  these  suggestions  derogatory  to 
President  Lincoln,  as  Commander-in-Chief.  He  desires 
"it  to  i)e  remembered  that  subordinate  officers  by  law  are 
under  the  control  and  command  of  the  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  American  Army."  He  believes  "there  is,  emanat 
ing  from  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  American  forces, 
through  his  first  subordinates,  and  by  them  to  the  next, 
and  so  continuously  down  to  the  soldiers  who  fight  upon 
the  battlefield,  a  well  digested,  clear,  and  definite  policy 
of  campaign,  that  is  in  motion  to  put  down  this  rebellion  ;  " 
and  he  "  here  declares  that  he  believes  that  the  system  of 
movements  that  has  culminated  in  glorious  victories,  and 
which  will  soon  put  down  this  rebellion,  finds  root,  brain, 
and  execution  in  the  Commanding  General  of  the  Ameri 
can  Army  and  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  American  people." 


110  CONGRESSIONAL    REVELATIONS. 

Mr.  Olin  says  :  "  If  it  be  the  object  of  the  House,  before 
passing  a  vote  of  thanks,  to  ascertain  who  was  the  person 
who  planned  and  organized  these  victories,  then  it  would 
be  eminently  proper  to  request  the  Secretary  of  War  to 
give  us  that  information.  That  would  satisfy  the  gentle 
man  and  the  House  directly  as  to  who  was  the  party  that 
planned  these  military  movements.  It  is  sufficient  for  the 
present  that  somebody  has  planned  and  executed  these 
military  movements.  Still,  if  the  gentleman  has  any  desire 
to  know  who  originated  these  movements,  he-  can  ascertain 
that  fact  by  inquiring  at  the  proper  office,  for  certainly 
some  one  at  the  War  Department  must  be  informed  on  the 
subject.  The  Secretary  of  War  knows  whether  he  had  any 
thing  to  do  with  them  or  not ;  the  Commanding  General 
knows  whether  he  had  anything  to  do  with  them  or  not. 
If  neither  of  them  had  anything  to  do  with  them,  they  will 
cheerfully  say  so." 

But  at  the  War  Department  it  has  been  determined  that 
the  secret  must  be  kept  so  long  as  the  war  continues,  and 
this  noble,  silent  woman  sits  in  the  gallery  listening  to  all 
this  discussion  and  makes  no  claim,  knowing  well  the  injury 
that  it  would  be  to  the  national  cause  if  it  should  be  known 
that  the  plan  was  the  work  of  a  civilian,  and,  above  all,  a 
woman — a  creature  despised  and  ignored,  not  even  counted 
as  one  of  "  the  people"  in  the  sounding  profession  made 
of  human  rights  a  hundred  years  ago. 

The  House  of  Representatives  having  failed  to  discover 
the  author  of  the  campaign,  on  March  i3th,  1862,  the 
Senate  makes  a  similar  attempt. 


CONGRESSIONAL   REVELATIONS.  Ill 

Mr.  Washburne  and  Mr.  Grimes  think  "  it  is  Commodore 
Foote  who  should  be  thanked."  But  no  one  knows. 

Again  that -wonderful,  quiet  woman  in  the  gallery  sits 
silently  listening  to  all  their  talking  and  discussing. 

She  speaks  of  it  afterwards  to  Colonel  Scott ;  refers  to 
the  discussions  which  had  taken  place  in  Congress  to  find 
out  who  had  devised  the  movement,  and  to  the  fact  that  she 
had  preserved  entire  silence  while  the  debate  went  on,  claim 
ing  it  for  one  and  another  of  the  generals  of  the  war. 

Colonel  Scott  says  she  has  "  acted  very  properly  in  the 
matter;  that  there  is  no  question  of  her  being  entitled  to 
the  vote  of  thanks  by  Congress  ;  that  she  has  saved  incalcu 
lable  millions  to  the  country,  etc.,  but  that  it  would  not 
do  while  the  struggle  lasted  to  make  a  public  claim ; "  and 
also  states  that  the  War  Power  pamphlet  has  done  much 
good,  and  he  has  heard  it  frequently  referred  to  while  in 
the  West. 

Judge  Wade  discusses  the  matter  and  says  it  greatly  adds 
to  the  merit  of  the  author  that  it  was  not  made  known. 
"Where  is  there  another  man  or  woman,"  says  Judge 
Wade,  turning  to  Judge  Evans,  "who  would  have  kept 
silence  when  so  much  could  have  come  personally  from  an 
open  avowal."  Judge  Evans  says  he  has  reproached  him 
self  more  than  once  that  he  had  not  in  some  way  made 
known  what  he  knew,  but  was  constrained  to  silence  by 
considerations  of  patriotism  that  were  above  all  else  at  that 
time.  .  '.. 

Hon.  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
the  Conduct  of  the  War,  afterward  writes  to  Miss  Carroll : 


112  CONGRESSIONAL   REVELATIONS. 

11 1  have  sometimes  reproached  myself  that  I  had  not 
made  known  the  author  when  they  were  discussing  the  reso 
lution  in  Congress  to  find  out  ;  but  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr. 
Stanton  were  opposed  to  its  being  known  that  the  armies 
were  moving  under  the  plan  of  a  civilian.  Mr.  Lincoln 
wanted  the  armies  to  believe  that  they  were  doing  the 
whole  business  of  saving  the  country." 

Mr.  Wade  also  writes  to  Miss  Carroll  : 

"The  country,  almost  in  her  last  extremity,  was  saved 
by  your  sagacity  and  unremitting  labor ;  indeed,  your  serv 
ices  were  so  great  that  it  is  hard  to  make  the  world  believe 
it.  That  all  this  great  work  should  be  brought  about 
by  a  woman  is  inconceivable  to  vulgar  minds.  You  can 
not  be  deprived  of  the  honor  of  having  done  greater  and 
more  efficient  services  for  the  country  in  time  of  her  greatest 
peril  than  any  other  person  in  the  Republic,  and  a  knowl 
edge  of  this  cannot  be  long  repressed." 

Col.  Thomas  A.  Scott,  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  to 
whom  her  plans  were  submitted,  informs  her  in  1862 
that  "  the  adoption  of  her  plan  has  saved  the  country  mil 
lions  of  money." 

Hon.  L.  D.  Evans,  justice  of  the  supreme  court  of  Texas, 
in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  The  Material  Bearing  of  the  Ten 
nessee  Campaign  in  1862  upon  the  Destinies  of  our  Civil 
War,"  shows  that  no  military  plan  could  have  saved  the 
country  except  this,  and  that  this  was  unthought  of  and 
unknown  until  suggested  by  Miss  Carroll,  who  alone  had 
the  genius  to  grasp  the  situation. 

How  clearly  the  Confederate  leaders  recognized  the  fatal 


CONGRESSIONAL   REVELATIONS.  113 

effects  of  this  Tennessee  campaign  is  indicated  by  a  letter 
found  among  the  papers  captured  by  General  Mitchell  at 
Huntsville,  written  by  General  Beauregard  to  General 
Samuel  Cooper,  Richmond,  Va.  : 

"  CORINTH,  April  p,  1862. 

"Can  we  not  be  reinforced  by  Pemberton's  army?" 
"If  defeated  here,  we  lose  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  prob 
ably  our  cause,  whereas  we  could  even  afford  to  lose 
Charleston  and  Savannah  for  the  purpose  of  defeating 
Buell's  army,  which  would  not  only  insure  us  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi,  but  our  independence." 

The  feeling  of  the  Confederate  army  is  curiously  indicated 
by  the  following  letter  received  by  Miss  Carroll  as  the  strug 
gle  drew  towards  its  close  and  filed  by  Mr.  Stanton  among 
his  papers  : 

FORT  DELAWARE,  March  i,  1865. 
Miss  CARROLL,  Baltimore,  Md.  : 

MADAM  :  It  is  rumored  in  the  Southern  army  that  you 
furnished  the  plan  or  information  that  caused  the  United 
States  Government  to  abandon  the  expedition  designed  to 
descend  the  Mississippi  river,  and  transferred  the  armies  up 
the  Tennessee  river  in  1862.  We  wish  to  know  if  this  is 
true.  If  it  is,  you  are  the  veriest  of  traitors  to  your  section, 
and  we  warn  you  that  you  stand  upon  a  volcano. 

"  CONFEDERATES." 


Miss  Carroll's  patriotic  labors  continued  to  the  end.     She 
contributed  papers  on  emancipation  and  on  reconstruction, 
8c 


114  CONGRESSIONAL    REVELATIONS. 

and  wrote  articles  for  the  leading  journals  in  support  of  the 
Government. 

"  While  her  pen  was  tireless  in  the  cause  of  loyalty,  her 
sympathy  and  interest  extended  themselves  toward  the 
prisons,  the  battlefields,  and  the  hospitals,  and  many  were 
the  individual  cases  of  suffering  and  want  that  she  relieved. 
She  was  especially  successful  with  procuring  discharges  for 
Union  prisoners,  and  where  such  were  in  need  her  own 
means  were  most  generously  used  to  give  adequate  help." 

Although  the  agreement  with  the  Government  was  that 
she  should  be  remunerated  for  her  services  and  the  employ 
ment  of  her  private  resources,  it  was  not  until  some  time 
after  the  close  of  the  war  that  she  endeavored,  by  the  ad 
vice  of  her  friends  and  prominent  members  of  the  War 
Committee,  to  make  a  public  claim  and  establish  so  impor 
tant  a  fact  in  the  history  of  the  war. 

"  Miss  Carroll's  own  feeling  was  a  desire  to  make  her 
services  a  free  gift  to  her  country,  and  her  aged  father,  who 
felt  the  proudest  satisfaction  in  his  daughter's  patriotic 
career,  was  of  the  same  disinterested  opinion."* 

The  same  high  and  chivalrous  feeling  that  led  him  to 
sacrifice  his  ancestral  home  to  liquidate  the  debts  incurred 
by  others  made  him  unwilling  that  his  daughter  should 
press  even  for  the  payment  of  the  debt  due  for  the  publica 
tion  of  her  pamphlets  and  campaign  documents,  though 
published  at  the  request  of  the  War  Department  on  the  un 
derstanding  that  she  was  to  be  repaid.  His  loftiness  of 
feeling  and  unbounded  generosity  continued  even  under 
adverse  fortunes. 

*  Abbie  M.  Gannet,  in  the  Boston  Sunday  Herald,  February,  1890. 


CONGRESSIONAL    REVELATIONS.  115 

"  But  as  time  went  on,  her  father  no  longer  living,  Miss 
Carroll  noted  how  honors  and  emoluments  were  allotted  to 
her  fellow-laborers,  and  that  her  own  work,  owing  to  the 
peculiar  circumstances  that  at  first  surrounded  it  and  the 
untimely  deaths  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  others  who  would 
gladly  have  proclaimed  it,  was  wholly  sinking  into  obscurity. 
A  sense  of  the  injustice  of  the  case  took  possession  of  her 
and  the  conviction  that  history  itself  would  be  falsified  if 
her  silence  continued."* 

Thomas  A.  Scott  and  Mr.  Wade,  chairman  of  the  Com 
mittee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  and  others  well  ac- 
.quainted  with  her  work  were  still  living,  able  and  desirous 
to  establish  her  claim.  By  their  advice  and  with  their  en 
thusiastic  endorsement  she  made  a  statement  of  her  case  in 
1870  and  presented  it  before  Congress,  asking  for  recog 
nition  and  a  due  award. 

''Every  lover  of  history,  every  true  patriot,  and,  above 
all,  every  patriotic  woman  will  be  glad  that  she  so  decided." 
— Mrs.  Abbie  M.  Gannet. 

It  was  not  fitting  that  such  achievements  should  be  al 
lowed  to  sink  into  oblivion. 

Accordingly  she  made  her  claim,  supported  by  the 
strongest  and  clearest  testimony  from  the  very  men  who 
were  most  competent  to  speak  with  absolute  authority, 
Mr.  Wade,  Mr.  Scott,  and  others  of  the  War  Department 
testifying  again  and  again  to  the  facts  of  the  case. 

It  immediately  became  evident  that  a  most  determined 
effort  was  to  be  made  to  crush  her  claims.  The  honors  of 

*  Abbie  M.  Gannet,  in  the  Boston  Sunday  Herald. 


Il6  CONGRESSIONAL    REVELATIONS. 

war  were  not  to  be  allowed  to  rest  on  the  head  that  had  so 
ably  won  them.  Personal  and  political  interests  were  too 
strongly  involved.  If  it  had  been  a  little  matter  it  might 
have  passed  ;  but  this  was  a  case  of  such  magnitude  and  im 
portance,  a  case  that  must  greatly  change  existing  esti 
mates. 

To  defeat  the  testimony  was  impossible.  Other  means 
must  be  used.  Chicanery  of  every  kind  was  resorted  to. 

Twice  Miss  Carroll's  whole  file  of  papers  were  stolen  from 
the  Military  Committee,  who  were  considering  her  claims. 

Fortunately  Miss  Carroll  possessed  the  original  drafts  of 
these  letters.  She  speedily  reproduced  them,  and  the  Mili 
tary  Committee  and  Mr.  Hunt,  the  keeper  of  the  records, 
having  already  examined  the  letters,  accepted  the  new  file 
and  ordered  them  to  be  printed,  thus  giving  them  their 
guarantee  ;  so  that,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  they  became 
the  same  as  the  originals. 

Judge  Wade  advises  Miss  Carroll  : 

"  I  want  you  to  set  forth  to  these  gentlemen,  in  your 
private  letters,  the  facts  about  the  abstracting  of  these 
papers.  It  has  never  been  properly  done.  It  is  exceed 
ingly  important  as  evidence  of  the  truth  of  your  claim. 
Tell  them  how  your  papers  were  abstracted  from  the  files 
twice.  Send  a  letter  to  General  Banning.  Tell  Judge 
Evans  to  ask  the  General  to  appoint  a  sub-committee  to  in 
vestigate  it,  so  as  to  submit  it  to  the  general  committee. 
Tell  them  all,  and  remind  them  that  when  one  report  was 
made  in  the  Senate  Committee  by  Mr.  Howard  the  papers 
were  abstracted  from  the  files,  as  the  Secretary  of  the  Com- 


CONGRESSIONAL    REVELATIONS.  1 17 

mittee,  Rev.  Samuel  Hunt,  will  testify.  I  hope  the  report 
will  be  a  very  emphatic  and  explicit  one  in  setting  forth 
your  plan  as  you  took  it  to  Colonel  Scott.  It  makes  the 
strongest  foundation  to  commence  upon  in  the  sub-com 
mittee.  There  will  undoubtedly  be  a  minority  of  Repub 
licans,  and  it  will  be  so  much  the  better  for  that,  because 
they  can  find  no  evidence  to  invalidate  the  report  of  the 
majority,  and  I  would  like  to  see  them  make  the  attempt. 
Being  at  the  head  of  the  War  Committee,  I  had  most  to 
do  with  it.  The  committee  not  half  the  time  were  present. 
Nobody  knows  the  difficulty  the  War  Committee  had  to  get 
the  army  moved.  We  had  almost  to  fight  for  that  cam 
paign." 

Mr.  Hunt  writes  from  Natick,  Mass. : 

March  7,  1876. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

I  remember  well  your  failure  to  recover  twice  all  the 
papers  you  intrusted  to  the  charge  of  the  Military  Com 
mittee  and  our  inability  to  account  for  their  loss. 

Hoping  you  will  have  better  success  now,  I  remain  as  ever, 
Very  truly  yours, 

S.  HUNT, 
Late  Secretary  of  Senate  Military  Committee. 


Senator  Howard  tells  Miss  Carroll  she  has  a  right  to  feel 
disappointed  that  her  claims  should  be  neglected,  but  he 
says,  "  you  know  the  great  power  of  the  military,  who  don't 
want  you  to  have  the  recognition." 

"  Senator  Howard,"  she  replies,  "  there  is  something  in 


IlS  CONGRESSIONAL    REVELATIONS. 

moral  integrity.  I  understand  you,  but  just  tell  the  truth. 
I  ask  only  to  be  sustained  by  truth,  and  am  not  afraid  of 
this  power." 

"  Miss  Carroll,"  he  says  with  emphasis,  "  you  have  done 
more  for  the  country  than  them  all.  You  told  and 
showed  where  to  fight  and  how  to  strike  the  rebellion  upon 
its  head.  No  one  comprehends  the  magnitude  of  that 
service  more  than  I." 

Judge  Wade's  remarks  to  Senator  Wilson  last  of  May, 
1862  (as  taken  down  by  a  reporter)  : 

Judge  Wade  said  he  talked  just  right  to  Wilson  for  the 
delay  in  Miss  Carroll's  matter  before  his  committee;  that 
Wilson  said  he  was  no  more  against  the  claim  than  Wade. 
Wade  told  him  it  would  kill  him  politically  if  he  didn't  act 
soon  ;  that  it  ought  to  kill  any  party  who  knew  the  truths 
of  the  great  civil  war  and  conspired  to  conceal  them  for 
their  own  purposes  ;  that  it  would  be  a  great  feather  in  a 
man's  cap  and  a  great  help  to  his  own  cause  to  bring  the 
matter  before  the  country  right,  no  matter  who  it  offended, 
and  he  only  regretted  he  was  not  in  the  Senate  then  on  this 
very  account,  and  would  always  be  sorry  he  had  not  induced 
Miss  Carroll  to  come  out  and  make  claim  for  her  rights  while 
the  rejoicing  was  going  on  at  the  final  surrender.  Wilson 
said  it  was  a  big  thing,  and  he  agreed  that  the  American 
people  would  cheerfully  pay  for  it,  if  it  had  been  so  done, 
by  contribution  boxes  at  the  cross-roads  and  post-offices  of 
the  country. 


CONGRESSIONAL    REVELATIONS.  119 

Mr.  Tucker  writes  from  Philadelphia  in  1870  : 

"  I  saw  Colonel  Scott  yesterday  and  placed  your  papers 
in  his  hands.  He  remarked  that  he  should  stand  by  all  he 
had  said  or  written  in  the  matter,  and  he  presumed  that  was 
all  you  would  want." 

1872. 

Judge  Wade  says  :  "  I  went  to  Morton,  in  the  Senate,  and 
told  him  that  it  was  infamous  that  the  Military  Committee 
did  not  report  at  once.  He  said,  for  himself  he  was  ready 
to  endorse  your  claim  fully,  and  had  done  so  when  How 
ard  reported.  I  went  on  to  tell  him  more,  but  he  said, 
'  I  could  not  be  more  strongly  convinced  of  the  justice  of 
that  claim.  Your  own  statement  satisfied  me  without 
anything  more.  If  Wilson  will  send  down  for  the  report 
I  will  sign  my  name  to  it  right  now.'  I  then  went  over  to 
Wilson  and  told  him  what  Morton  had  said,  and  told  him 
he  had  better  send  down  for  it.  Wilson  said  he  didn't 
think  that  was  the  best  way  of  doing  it,  but  that  he  would 
call  a  special  meeting  of  the  Committee  and  have  it 
done.  I  then  saw  Cameron.  He  said  he  was  ready  and 
always  had  been." 

1873- 

Judge  Wade  tells  her  :  "  Howe  said  your  claim  had  been 
sent  to  his  committee — on  Claims — but  that  it  did  not  prop 
erly  belong  there;  but  that  he  had  examined  the  papers ; 
that  your  claim  was  entirely  just  and  ought  to  be  paid." 

And  again  :  "  That  he  had  spoken  to  Wadleigh,  a  member 
of  the  Military  Committee,  about  her  claim.  He  said  he 
had  no  question  that  it  was  clealy  proved,  and  no  doubt 
she  would  be  ultimately  paid  by  the  Government." 


120  CONGRESSIONAL   REVELATIONS. 


Judge  Wade  says  :  "I  asked  Logan  what  he  was  going 
to  do  about  Miss  Carroll's  claim."  He  said  "he  didn't  know 
what  to  say."  "  I  told  him  it  ought  to  be  paid  at  once  ; 
that  it  was  clearly  established."  Logan  said,  "Yes;  but 
she  claims  so  much."  Wade  replies,  "  She  claims  to  have 
furnished  the  information  that  led  to  the  military  move 
ments  that  decided  the  war."  Logan  didn't  say  any  more, 
or  what  he  would  do. 

Judge  Wade  asked  Merrill  what  he  was  going  to  do  ;  that 
this  claim  had  been  before  Congress  long  enough.  Morrill 
said  your  claim  was  clearly  established;  "that  were  you 
applying  for  a  title  for  a  new  patent  of  discovery  nothing 
could  defeat  you,  but  that  it  was  indispensable  to  have  the 
Military  Committee  act  again."  Wade  says  "he  feels  em 
barrassed  in  appearing  as  an  advocate,  being  a  witness,  but 
that  he  will  go  before  the  committee  anyhow  and  insist  upon 
action." 

JEFFERSON,  OHIO,  October  j,  1876. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

I  do  assure  you  that  the  manner  in  which  your  most 
noble  services  and  sacrifices  have  been  treated  by  your 
country  has  given  me  more  pain  and  anxiety  than  anything 
that  ever  happened  to  me  personally;  that  such  merit 
should  go  so  long  unrewarded  is  deeply  disgraceful  to  the 
country,  or  rather  to  the  agencies  of  the  Government  who 
have  had  the  matter  in  charge.  I  hope  and  trust  it  will 
not  always  be  so.  The  truth  is,  your  services  were  so 
great  they  cannot  be  comprehended  by  the  ordinary 
capacity  of  our  public  men  ;  and  then,  again,  your  services 
were  of  such  a  character  that  they  threw  a  shadow  over  the 


CONGRESSIONAL    REVELATIONS.  121 

reputations  of  some  of  our  would-be  great  men.     No  doubt 
great  pains  have  been  taken  in  the  business  of  trying   to 
defeat  you,  but  it  lias  always  been  an  article  of  faith  with 
me  that  truth  and  justice  must  ultimately  triumph. 
Ever  yours  truly, 

B.  F.  WADE. 


JEFFERSON,  OHIO,  April  10,  1877 • 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL: 

There  is  nothing  in  my  power  I  would  not  most  gladly 
do  for  you,  for  none  have  ever  done  so  much  for  the  country 
as  you,  and  none  have  had  so  little  for  it.  I  cannot  but 
believe  justice  will  be  done  you  yet  for  the  immense  services 
you  rendered  the  country  in  the  civil  war.  But  when  I  re 
flect  what  mighty  work  you  have  done  for  the  country  and 
how  you  have  been  treated  it  keeps  me  awake  nights  and 
fills  my  soul  with  bitterness. 
Truly  yours  ever, 

B.  F.  WADE. 


JEFFERSON,  OHIO,  September  4, 
MY  DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

*  *  *  I  know  you  are  right  and  I  will  never  fail  to 
•do  all  I  can  to  aid  you  in  attaining  it.  Your  only  trouble 
is  you  have  the  whole  army  to  fight,  who  seem  better  skilled 
in  opposing  you  than  they  were  in  finding  out  the  best 
method  of  fighting  the  enemy.  I  hope  your  health  holds 
out  and  continues  good,  for  what  you  have  done  and  what 
you  have  to  do  would  break  down  any  weaker  intellect  and 
physical  constitution. 

Mrs.  Wade  joins  me  in  wishing  you  all  success. 
Truly  yours, 

B.  F.  WADE. 


122  CONGRESSIONAL   REVELATIONS. 

Governor  Corwin  writes  her : 

WASHINGTON,  y#//.  ij, 
DEAR  FRIEND  : 

I  thank  you  for  the  address  of  your  good  Governor  of  the 
third  instant.  I  believe  you  will  succeed  in  saving  Mary 
land,  but  there  is  nothing  to  be  done  with  this  Congress, 
and  your  counsel  to  your  friends  is  wise.  Art,  finesse,  and 
trick  are  in  this  age  worth  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  the 
faith  of  Abraham,  and  the  fidelity  of  Moses. 
Truly  yours, 

TOM  CORWIN.* 


Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  Miss  Carroll  inquires  of 
Mr.  Stanton  if  he  could  not  furnish  what  was  termed  "a 
transportation  and  subsistence  "  for  a  southern  tour.  Many 
people  were  present.  He  remarks  he  had  rather  pay  her 
millions  of  dollars  than  to  say  no  to  any  request  she  could 
make  of  him.  "You,"  he  says,  "  who  have  done  such  in 
comparable  services  for  the  country  with  so  much  modesty 
and  so  little  pretension,"  etc. 

Miss  Carroll  does  not  like  so  much  in  the  line  of  com 
pliment  and  says  to  General  Hardie as  she  passes  out,  "Mr. 
Stanton  said  too  much  and  attracted  the  attention  of  all  in 
the  room." 

Hardie  says,  "  Don't  take  it  in  that  light.  Mr.  Stanton 
is  not  the  man  to  say  what  he  don't  mean,  and,  I  venture 
to  say,  never  said  so  much  to  any  one  besides  during  the 
war. ' ' 

*  Thomas  Corwin  was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under  Fillmore,  U.  S. 
Senator,  a  noted  lawyer  and  wit,  and  a  man  of  letters. 


CONGRESSIONAL    REVELATIONS.  123 

Miss  Carrol)  relates  this  to  Judge  Wade.  "  Why,"  says 
he,  "  Stanton  has  said  the  same  of  you  to  me,  and  often  in 
the  same  vein  ;  he  said  your  course  was  the  most  remarkable 
in  the  war ;  that  you  found  yourself,  got  no  pay,  and  did 
the  great  work  that  made  others  famous." 

For  these  reports  and  conversations  see — 

45th  CONGRESS,  \  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.  \  Miss.  Doc. 
2nd  SESSION.     /  Pp.  30,  31,  32,  33.  J      No.  58. 

Vol.  6,  Miscellaneous  Documents,  Document  Room  of  the 
Senate. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


MISS  CARROLL'S  PAMPHLETS  IN  AID  OF  THE  ADMINISTRATION. 
THE  PRESENTATION  OF  THE  BILL. 

In  July  of  1862  Miss  Carroll  presented  her  very  modest 
bill  for  the  pamphlets  that  had  been  accepted  at  the  War 
Department,  which  included  the  expenses  paid  by  herself 
of  printing  and  circulating. 

Of  the  Breckenridge  pamphlet  she  printed  and  circulated 
50,000,  which  went  off,  as  Hon.  James  Tilghman  (president 
of  the  Union  Association  in  Baltimore  in  1860)  testifies, 
"  like  hot  cakes." 

In  the  library  of  the  State  Department  specimens  of  two 
large  editions  of  the  War  Powers  may  be  seen  side  by  side 
in  the  volumes  of  bound  manuscripts.  It  is  over  23  closely 
printed  pages  in  length,  and  was  circulated  east  and  west 
with  admirable  results,  all  expenses  borne  by  Miss  Carroll 
personally. 

The  Power  of  the  President  to  Suspend  the  Writ  of 
Habeas  Corpus,  The  Relation  of  the  Revolted  Citizens  to 
the  United  States,  and  other  able  papers  followed. 

The  Secretary  of  War  suggested  the  presentation  of  Miss 
Carroll's  bill,  advising  her  to  obtain  the  opinion  of  one  or 
more  competent  judges  as  to  the  reasonableness  of  her 
charges  and  a  statement  of  the  understanding  upon  which 
they  were  written. 

(124) 


MISS  CARROLL'S  PAMPHLETS.  125 

The  bill  is  as  follows,  and  the  testimonials  are  as  reported 
in  the  Miss.  Doc.  58  (House),  45th  Congress,  2d  session  : 

Secret-Service  Fund  of  the  War  Department  to  Anna  Ella  Car 
roll,  Dr.,  as  per  Agreement  with  Hon.  Thomas  A.  Scott, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  War. 

1861. 

Sept.  25.     To  circulating  the  Breckenridge  reply  .     $1,250 

Dec.   24.     To  writing,  publishing,    and  circulating  the 

"War  Powers,  "etc 3,000 

1862. 

May  — .  Writing,  publishing,  and  circulating  the  rela 
tions  of  the  National  Government  to  the  re 
belled  citizens 2,000 


$6,250 

Credit,  October  2,  1861 : 
By  cash  1,250 


$5,000 


PHILADELPHIA,  January  2,  1863. 

I  believe  Miss  Carroll  has  earned  fairly,  and  should  be 
paid,  the  compensation  she  has  charged  above. 

THOS.  A.  SCOTT. 


PHILADELPHIA,  January  28,  1863. 

All  my  interviews  with  Miss  Carroll  were  in  my  official 
tapacity  as  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  and  in  that 
capacity  I  would  have  allowed,  and  believed  she  should  be 
paid,  the  amount  of  her  bill  within,  which  is  certified  as 
being  reasonable  by  many  of  the  leading  men  of  the 
country. 

THOS.  A.  SCOTT. 


126  MISS  CARROLL'S  PAMPHLETS. 

PHILADELPHIA,  January  28,  i86j. 

The  pamphlets  published  by  Miss  Carroll  were  published 
upon  a  general  understanding  made  by  me  with  her  as  As 
sistant  Secretary  of  War,  under  no  special  authority  in  the 
premises,  but  under  a  general  authority  then  exercised  by 
me  in  the  discharge  of  public  duties  as  Assistant  Secretary 
of  War.  I  then  thought  them  of  value  to  the  service,  and 
still  believe  they  were  of  great  value  to  the  Government. 
I  brought  the  matter  generally  to  the  knowledge  of  General 
Cameron,  then  Secretary  of  War,  without  his  having  spe 
cial  knowledge  of  the  whole  matter  ;  he  made  no  objections 
thereto.  No  price  was  fixed,  but  it  was  understood  that  the 
Government  would  treat  her  with  sufficient  liberality  to 
compensate  her  for  any  service  she  might  render,  and  I  be 
lieve  she  acted  upon  the  expectation  that  she  would  be  paid 
by  the  Government. 

THOMAS  A.  SCOTT. 


NEW  YORK,  October  10,  1862. 

Without  intending  to  express  any  assent  or  dissent  to  the 
positions  therein  asserted,  but  merely  with  a  view  of  form 
ing  a  judgment  in  respect  to  their  merits  as  argumentative 
compositions,  I  have  carefully  perused  Miss  Carroll's 
pamphlets  mentioned  in  the  within  account.  The  proposi 
tions  are  clearly  stated,  the  authorities  relied  on  are  judi 
ciously  selected,  and  the  reasoning  is  natural,  direct,  and 
well  sustained,  and  framed  in  a  manner  extremely  well 
adapted  to  win  the  reader's  assent,  and  thus  to  obtain  the 
object  in  view.  I  consider  the  charges  quite  moderate.  „ 

CHARLES  O' CONOR. 


WASHINGTON,  September  ip,  1862. 

Without  having  seen  the  writings  mentioned  in  the  within 
account  I  have  heard  them  so  favorably  spoken  of  by  the 


MISS    CARROLL  S    PAMPHLETS.  127 

most  competent  judges  that  the  charges  of  the  account  seem 
to  be  most  reasonable. 

REVERDY  JOHNSON. 

706  WALNUT  ST.,  PHILADELPHIA,  Oct.  n,  1862. 

Having  been  requested  to  give  my  opinion  of  the  pam 
phlets  described  in  the  within  list,  I  have  in  a  cursory  way 
looked  over  them.  As  I  have  just  returned  from  Europe 
from  a  long  absence  and  am  at  present  with  many  unsettled 
matters  of  my  own,  I  cannot  undertake  therefore  to  study 
them.  From  the  examination  I  have  given  them  I  cheer 
fully  say  they  appear  to  be  learned  and  able  productions 
and  the  work  of  a  well-stored  mind.  They  are  written  in 
a  clear  style  and  must  be  read  with  interest  and  advantage, 
and  certainly  cannot  fail  to  be  of  service  to  the  cause  they 
uphold. 

Much  labor  must  have  been  given  to  these  productions. 
Their  actual  value  in  money  I  cannot  determine,  but  I 
think  they  are  well  worthy  of  a  high  and  liberal  compen 
sation. 

BENJAMIN  H.  BREWSTER.* 


WASHINGTON,  September  2j>,  1862. 

I  have  read  several  of  the  productions  of  Miss  Carroll, 
and,  among  others,  two  of  the  within  mentioned.  The 
learning,  ability,  and  force  of  reasoning  they  exhibit  have 
astonished  me.  Without  concurring  in  all  the  conclusions 
of  the  writer,  I  think  that  the  writer  is  fully  entitled,  not 
only  to  the  amount  charged,  but  to  the  thanks  and  high 
consideration  of  the  Government  and  the  nation. 

RICHARD  S.  COXE. 

*  Benjamin  H.  Brewster  was  a  noted  lawyer  of  Philadelphia  and  a  member 
of  Arthur's  Cabinet. 


128  MISS  CARROLL'S  PAMPHLETS. 

WASHINGTON,  September  10,  1862. 

Having  read  with  care  the  several  pamphlets  mentioned 
within,  and  comparing  them  with  professional  arguments 
in  causes  of  any  considerable  importance,  and  considering 
the  vast  learning  and  the  ability  with  which  it  is  handled, 
I  have  to  say  that  in  my  judgment  the  charges  are  not  only 
very  reasonable,  but  will,  in  the  estimation  of  all  men  of 
learning  who  will  carefully  examine  the  documents,  be 
deemed  too  small. 

L.  D.  EVANS. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  23,  1862. 
I  have  read  the  pamphlets  mentioned  within,  together 
with  others  on  similar  subjects  written  by  Miss  Carroll,  and 
I  fully  concur  in  the  opinion  above  expressed,  believing 
that  said  pamphlets  have  been  of  essential  service  to  the 
cause  of  the  Union. 

S.  T.  WILLIAMS. 


September  8,  1862. 

I  have  carefully  perused,  some  time  since,  the  papers  re 
ferred  to  within,  and  without  entering  into  any  question  of 
concurrence  or  non-concurrence  of  views  I  deem  the  docu 
ments  of  great  value  to  the  Government,  and  that  the  esti 
mate  of  the  account  is  reasonable. 

ROBERT  J.  WALKER. 


WASHINGTON,  October,  1862. 
Miss  CARROLL  : 

While  I  never  put  my  name  to  any  paper,  I  would  very 
cheerfully  state  at  the  Department  that  I  consider  the 
charges  for  your  publications  too  small,  but  I  do  not  think 
it  can  be  necessary.  What  more  could  any  one  want  than 


MISS  CARROLL'S  PAMPHLETS.  129 

such  an  endorsement  as  you  have  from  Mr.  O' Conor  and 
other  eminent  men  ? 

Very  respectfully, 

EDWARDS  PIERREPONT.* 


Later  developments  showed  that  the  $1,250  that  Miss 
Carroll  had  credited  to  the  secret-service  fund  had  come  out 
of  Thomas  A.  Scott's  own  pocket  as  his  private  contribu 
tion  to  the  national  cause  and  to  help  on  the  circulation 
of  such  important  documents. 

Mr.  Scott  sent  the  following  letter,  to  be  found  in  Miss. 
Doc.  167  : 

PHILADELPHIA,  January  16,  1863. 
Hon.  JOHN  TUCKER,  A ssistant  Secretary  of  War  : 

I  believe  Miss  Carroll  has  fairly  earned  and  ought  to  be 
paid  the  amount  of  her  bill  ($6,750),  and  if  you  will  pay 
her  I  will  certify  to  such  form  as  you  may  think  necessary 
as  a  voucher. 

THOMAS  A.  SCOTT. 


Mr.  Tucker  not  having  the  settlement  of  the  account, 
and  the  matter  being  referred  to  Assistant  Secretary  Wat 
son,  Miss  Carroll  submitted  the  account  endorsed  by 
many  eminent  men  as  reasonable,  and  also  endorsed  with 
Hon.  Thomas  A.  Scott's  recollection  of  the  agreement  upon 
which  they  were  produced. 

An  agent  tendered  but  $750,  with  a  receipt  in  full. 

On  objecting  he  said  her  redress  was  with  Congress,  and, 


*  Edwards  Pierrepont  was  Minister  to  England  under  Grant. 
9C 


130  MISS  CARROLL'S  PAMPHLETS. 

upon  being  informed  by  Mr.  Reverdy  Johnson  that  the 
receipts  would  not  bar  her  claim,  she  accepted  it.  The 
original  account,  with  endorsements,  etc.,  it  is  stated,  is  "on 
file  in  the  War  Department."  The  Senate  Military  Com 
mittee  of  the  4ist  Congress,  3d  session,  Report  339,  refer 
ring  to  these  publications,  said  :  "Miss  Carroll  preferred  a 
claim  to  reimburse  her  for  expenses  incurred  in  their  pub 
lication  which  ought  to  have  been  paid." 

Miss  Carroll  having  also  credited  the  $750  to  the  secret- 
service  fund,  Mr.  Thomas  A.  Scott  wrote  her  that  she  should 
not  have  done  so  ;  that  it  came  out  of  his  own  pocket  in  his 
indignation  at  finding  the  agreement  made  by  himself  in 
his  capacity  of  Assistant  Secretary  of  War  disregarded  by 
his  successor.  For  thirty  years  this  account  has  been  pre 
sented  in  vain.  In  1885  it  was  retransmitted  from  the 
Court  of  Claims  on  some  judicial  grounds,  though  accom 
panied  by  the  "  moral  assent  "  of  the  court. 

Miss  Carroll  had  written  the  great  and  influential  pam 
phlets  of  the  day  which  ought  to  have  made  her  a  minister 
of  state.  She  had  devised  the  military  movements  that  ought 
to  have  given  her  a  very  high  military  rank.  Under  our 
arrangements  for  securing  a  male  aristocracy  no  services, 
however  brilliant,  could  secure  to  a  woman  any  post  what 
ever.  She  must  remain  an  unrecognized  member,  and 
being  an  unrecognized  member  for  her  there  was  no  pay — 
not  even  her  traveling  expenses.  Any  help  towards  the 
circulation  of  her  invaluable  pamphlets  had  to  come  out  of 
the  private  means  of  Thomas  A.  Scott.  From  first  to  last, 
for  all  her  intense  and  unremitting  labors  through  all  the 


MISS  CARROLL'S  PAMPHLETS.  131 

years  of  the  civil  war,  she  has,  it  would  appear,  received 
from  the  Government,  in  any  department  whatever,  not  one 
cent.  To  her  personally,  through  the  generous  and  unhesi 
tating  use  of  her  own  private  means,  the  result  has  been  a 
long  martyrdom  of  poverty  and  suffering. 

That  is  how  America  has  treated  her  noblest  daughter. 

That  is  the  result  of  belonging  to  a  disfranchised  class. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


MISS    CARROLL    BEFORE    CONGRESS. 

Miss  Carroll's  first  memorial  was  brought  before  Con 
gress  March  31,  1870.  It  was  simple  and  short,  with  a 
copy  of  the  plan  of  campaign  appended. 

A  Military  Committee,  with  General  Jacob  M.  Howard 
as  chairman,  was  appointed  to  consider  it.  Thomas  A. 
Scott  wrote  twice  to  the  Military  Committee  endorsing  the 
claim.  Mr.  Wade,  Judge  Evans,  etc.,  made  their  state 
ments  on  affidavit. 

The  evidence  being  thorough  and  incontrovertible,  Mr. 
Howard  reported  accordingly  on  February  2,  1871.  He 
recapitulates  the  letters  and  evidence  received ;  gives  Mr. 
Wade's  testimony ;  states  that  a  copy  of  Miss  Carroll's  paper 
was  shown  him  immediately  after  the  success  of  the  cam 
paign,  by  the  late  Hon.  Elisha  Whittlesey,*  of  Ohio  (Mr. 
Whittlesey  had  asked  Miss  Carroll  for  a  copy  that  he  might 
leave  it  in  his  family  as  an  heirloom)  ;  notes  Miss  Carroll's 
statement  that  no  military  man  had  ever  controverted  her 
claim  to  having  originated  the  campaign,  and  concludes: 

"  From  the  high  social  position  of  this  lady  and  her  es 
tablished  ability  as  a  writer  and  thinker,  she  was  prepared 

*  Elisha  Whittlesey  was  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  a  very  distinguished  lawyer  in  Ohio,  and  for  many  terms  a  Repre 
sentative  in  "Congress. 


MISS   CARROLL   BEFORE   CONGRESS.  133 

at  the  inception  of  the  rebellion  to  exercise  a  strong  in 
fluence  in  behalf  of  liberty  and  the  Union  ;  that  it  was  felt 
and  respected  in  Maryland  during  the  darkest  hours  in  that 
State's  history,  there  can  be  no  question.  Her  publications 
throughout  the  struggle  were  eloquently  and  ably  written 
and  widely  circulated,  and  did  much  to  arouse  and  invig 
orate  the  sentiment  of  loyalty  in  Maryland  and  other  bor 
der  States.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  they  were  among 
the  very  ablest  publications  of  the  time  and  exerted  a  pow 
erful  influence  upon  the  hearts  of  the  people.  Some  of 
these  publications  were  prepared  under  the  auspices  of  the 
War  Department,  and  for  these  Miss  Carroll  preferred  a 
claim  to  reimburse  her  for  the  expenses  incurred  in  their 
publication,  which  ought  to  have  been  paid ;  and,  as  evi 
dence  of  this,  we  subjoin  the  following  statement  from  the 
Assistant  Secretary  of  War: — 

"  '  PHILADELPHIA,  January  28,  1863. 
"  'All  my  interviews  with  Miss  Carroll  were  in  my  official 
capacity  as  Assistant  Secretary  of  War.  The  pamphlets 
published  were,  to  a  certain  extent,  under  a  general  author 
ity  then  exercised  by  me  in  the  discharge  of  public  duties 
as  Assistant  Secretary  of  War.  No  price  was  fixed,  but  it 
was  understood  that  the  Government  would  '  treat  her  with 
sufficient  liberality  to  compensate  her  for  any  service  she 
might  render.'  ' 

On  the  fifteenth  of  June,  1870,  Hon.  Thomas  A.  Scott 
addressed  a  letter  to  Hon.  J.  M.  Howard,  U.  S.  Senate,  in 
which  he  says : 


134  MISS    CARROLL   BEFORE   CONGRESS. 

"  '  I  learn  from  Miss  Carroll  that  she  has  a  claim  before 
Congress  for  services  rendered  in  the  year  1861  in  aid  of  the 
Government.  I  believe  now  that  the  Government  ought 
to  reward  her  liberally  for  the  efforts  she  made  in  its  behalf 
to  rouse  the  people  against  the  rebellious  action  of  the 
South.  I  hope  you  will  pass  some  measure  that  will 
give  Miss  Carroll  what  she  is  certainly  entitled  to. 

'"<THOS.  A.  SCOTT.'  " 

"  In  view,  therefore,  of  the  highly  meritorious  services  of 
Miss  Carroll  during  the  whole  period  of  our  National 
troubles,  and  especially  at  that  epoch  of  the  war  to  which 
her  memorial  makes  reference,  and  in  consideration  of  the 
further  fact  that  all  the  expenses  incident  to  this  service 
were  borne  by  herself,  the  committee  believe  her  claim  to 
be  just,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  recognized  by  Congress,  and 
consequently  report  a  bill  for  her  relief." 

An  accompanying  bill  was  sent  in,  leaving  the  amount 
of  compensation  blank  for  Congress  to  determine,  but  the 
committee  agreeing  that  the  bill  ought  to  be  passed  in  some 
manner  that  should  recognize  the  remarkable  and  invaluable 
nature  of  the  services  rendered. 

Congress  having  thus  received  the  report  made  by  their 
own  Military  Committee  appointed  for  the  purpose,  for 
reasons  plainly  given  by  Mr.  Wade  and  others,  at  once 
ignored  it,  tossing  it  over  to  the  Court  of  Claims,  who 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  it,  and  so  that  Congress 
adjourned. 

Then  followed  that  singular  and  disheartening  feature  of 
congressional  committees. 


MISS    CARROLL    BEFORE    CONGRESS.  135 

Action  having  been  taken,  a  Military  Committee  ap 
pointed,  and  a  conclusive  report  made,  Congress  could 
utterly  neglect  it,  and  at  the  following  Congress  the  previous 
action  would  count  for  nothing,  and  the  whole  wearisome 
proceeding  of  a  new  memorial,  a  new  effort  to  procure  atten 
tion,  a  new  examination  of  evidence,  a  new  report,  a  new 
bill,  and  again  utter  neglect.  But  the  brave  woman  con 
tinued.  She  was  really  fighting  alone  and  at  terrible  odds 
another  Tennessee  campaign  for  the  rightful  recognition  of 
woman's  work. 

Accordingly,  the  following  year  another  memorial  was 
sent  in,  another  committee  appointed,  renewed  testimony 
given  by  Scott,  Wade,  Evans,  and  others.  Mr.  Wilson 
testified  that  the  claim  was  "  incontestably  established," 
referred  to  the  evidence  given  in  Miss  Carroll's  own  me 
morial,  but  for  want  of  time  made  no  regular  report,  ap 
parently,  except  this : 

Report. 

"Mr.  Wilson,  on  behalf  of  the  Committee  on  Military 
Affairs,  laid  before  the  Senate  the  memorial  of  Anna  Ella 
Carroll,  of  Maryland,  setting  forth  certain  valuable  military 
information  given  to  the  Government  by  her  during  the 
war  and  asking  compensation  therefor,  which  was  ordered 
to  be  printed,  together  with  a  bill  rewarding  her  for  military 
and  literary  services  " — twice  read  in  United  States  Senate — 
amount  left  $ — ,  to  be  filled  by  this  body.  Then  Congress 
again  quietly  dropped  a  recognition  that  might  interfere 
with  party  plans,  and  so  that  Congress  adjourned. 


136  MISS    CARROLL    BEFORE    CONGRESS. 

And  so  the  weary  work  went  on  of  presenting  new  me 
morials  and  meeting  with  the  same  neglect,  Congress  never 
denying  the  claim  and  none  of  the  military  commanders 
making  any  claim  or  denying  the  facts. 

Miss  Carroll  gave  extracts  from  every  known  historical 
work  showing  the  surmises  made,  endeavoring  to  attribute 
the  plan  to  one  and  another,  and  no  evidence  found  to  es 
tablish  such  surmises. 

Miss  Carroll  wrote  to  Hon.  J.  T.  Headley,  the  distin 
guished  historian  of  the  Civil  War,  and  received  the  fol 
lowing  letter : 

NEWBURGH,  N.  Y.,  February  6,  1873. 
MY  DEAR  MADAM: 

I  am  much  obliged  for  the  pamphlet  you  sent  me.  I 
never  knew  before  with  whom  the  plan  of  the  campaign  up 
the  Tennessee  river  originated.  There  seemed  to  be  a 
mystery  attached  to  it  that  I  could  not  solve.  Though 
General  Buell  sent  me  an  immense  amount  of  documents 
relating  to  this  campaign  I  could  find  no  reference  to  the 
origin  of  the  change  of  plan.  Afterwards  I  saw  it  attrib 
uted  to  Halleck,  which  I  knew  to  be  false,  and  I  noticed 
that  he  never  corroborated  it.  It  is  strange  that  after  all 
my  research  it  has  rested  with  you  to  enlighten  me. 

Money  cannot  pay  for  the  plan  of  that  campaign.  I 
doubt  not  Congress  will  show  not  liberality  but  some  jus 
tice  in  the  matter. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

J.  T.  HEADLEY. 

So  matters  went  on.  New  memorials  presented  for  the 
most  part  met  with  "leave  to  withdraw."  Then  Miss 
Carroll  gathered  herself  up  for  a  supreme  effort,  pre- 


MISS  CARROLL  BEFORE  CONGRESS.          137 

sented  fresh  testimony,  and  in  1878  sent  in  a  memorial 
that  is  a  mine  of  wealth  and  the  most  interesting  memorial 
she  has  ever  presented.  It  is  labeled— 


45th  CONGRESS,  lHousE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.  {  M^'  58°C< 

Being  a  document  of  the  first  importance  and  containing 
some  singular  evidence,  it  has  been  systematically  excluded 
from  every  Congressional  index,  though  published  by  order 
of  Congress  and  included  in  the  bound  volumes. 

Miss  Carroll  having  made  in  1878  this  very  notable  me 
morial,  on  February  18,  1879— 

45th  CONGRESS,  |  SENATE  1  REPORT 
3d  SESSION.     J  I  JNO.  775- 

Mr    Cockrell  made  a  report  entered  on  the  Congressional 
lists  as  adverse,  but  really  an  additional  evidence  of  the  in 
controvertible  nature  of  the  facts  and  the  testimony  of  the. 
case,  the  report  being  only  adverse  as  to  compensation.    The 
report  admits  the  services,  both  literary  and  military,  and 
even  concedes  the  proposition  that   "the  transfer  of  the 
national  armies  from  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  up  the  Tennessee 
river  to  the  decisive  position  in  Mississippi  was  the  greatest 
military  event  in  the  interest  of  the  human   race  known   to 
modern  ages,  and  will  ever  rank  among  the  very  few  strategic 
movements  in  the  world's  history  that  have  decided  the  fate 
of  empires  and  peoples  r  and  that  "no  true  history  can  be 
written  that  does  not  assign  to  the  memorialist  the  credit  of 
the  conception.'" 

The  report  thereupon  proceeds  to  state  the  opinion  of  t 
committee,  that  with  all  the  evidence  before  them  every 


138          MISS  CARROLL  BEFORE  CONGRESS. 

subsequent  Congress  having  failed  to  make  an  award  they 
must  have  had  some  unknown  reasons  for  the  omission,  and 
that  the  claim,  having  been  so  long  neglected,  may  as  well 
be  indefinitely  postponed — a  surprising  mode  of  reasoning 
and  manner  of  disposition  of  a  claim. 

The  report  supposes  the  neglect  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  services  were  rendered  to  the  Secret  Service  Commission 
and  inclines  to  think  that  the  two  thousand  dollars  received 
was  considered  a  sufficient  remuneration  for  the  literary 
work. 

"  The  committee  have  not  been  able  to  find  a  precedent 
for  payment  of  claims  of  this  character."  *  *  *  "But 
it  would  destroy  much  of  the  poetry  and  grandeur  of  noble 
deeds  were  a  price  demanded  for  kindred  services,  and 
achievements  of  this  nature  huckstered  in  the  market  as 
commodities  of  barter."  And  that  is  all  a  report  intended 
to  be  adverse  can  say  against  the  claim. 

One  might  remark  that  it  is  not  wholly  unprecedented 
for  honorable  gentlemen  to  receive  remuneration  from  the 
Government  for  services  rendered,  or  even  to  ask  for  their 
traveling  expenses.  But  this  looks  somewhat  like  a  sneer. 

Was  it  directed  against  the  noble  invalid  who  had  de 
voted  her  life  and  strength,  her  great  ability,  and  her  pri 
vate  fortune  to  the  service  of  her  country  for  years,  with 
such  lavish  prodigality  and  such  brilliant  success,  and  had 
left  a  fitting  award  wholly  to  the  determination  of  Con 
gress,  asking  only  that  it  should  be  made  in  some  way  that 
should  mark  the  unusual  and  distinctive  nature  of  the  serv 
ices  rendered  ? 


MISS  CARROLL  BEFORE  CONGRESS.          139 

No  ;  surely  it  must  have  been  directed  against  the  Gov 
ernment  agent  who  wanted  Miss  Carroll,  for  the  considera 
tion  of  $750,  to  give  a  receipt  in  full  for  a  bill  of  $5,000 
remaining — a  bill  certified  by  the  highest  authorities  to  be 
sufficiently  low  or  altogether  too  low  for  the  literary  work 
performed.  (No  wonder  if  such  huckstering  moved  Mr. 
Cockrell's  righteous  soul.)  His  remarks  also  were  exceed 
ingly  applicable  to  a  liberal-minded  person  who  shortly 
after  sent  in  a  bill  recommending  that  after  all  these  years 
Congress  would  kindly  allow  Miss  Carroll  a  pension  of  $50 
a  month  for  "  the  important  military  services  rendered  the 
country  by  her  during  the  late  civil  war."  If  any  more 
$50  miseries  are  proposed  we  would  commend  to  the  com 
mittees  Mr.  Cockrell  on  "huckstering." 

The  true  description  of  such  a  report  would  be  "  admis 
sion  of  the  incontestable  nature  of  the  services  rendered." 

Then  followed  the  report  of  the  Military  Committee  of 
1 88 1 — the  last  report,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascer 
tain,  "printed  by  order  of  Congress." 

It  is  as  follows,  verbatim : 

{  **»** 


ANNA  ELLA  CARROLL. 


March  3,  1881.  —  Committed  to  the  Committee  of  the 
Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 


140         MISS  CARROLL  BEFORE  CONGRESS. 

E.  S.  Bragg,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs, 
submitted  the  following 

Report. 
(To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  7256.) 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  to  whom  the  memorial 
of  Anna  Ella  Carroll  was  referred,  asking  national  recogni 
tion  and  reward  for  services  rendered  the  United  States  dur 
ing  the  war  between  the  States,  after  careful  consideration 
of  the  same,  submit  the  following  : 

In  the  autumn  of  1861  the  great  question  as  to  whether 
the  Union  could  be  saved,  or  whether  it  was  hopelessly 
subverted,  depended  on  the  ability  of  the  Government  to 
open  the  Mississippi  and  deliver  a  fatal  blow  upon  the  re 
sources  of  the  Confederate  power. 

The  original  plan  was  to  reduce  the  formidable  fortifica 
tions  by  descending  this  river  aided  by  the  gunboat  fleet 
then  in  preparation  for  that  object. 

President  Lincoln  had  reserved  to  himself  the  special 
direction  of  this  expedition,  but  before  it  was  prepared  to 
move  he  became  convinced  that  the  obstacles  to  be  encoun 
tered  were  too  grave  and  serious  for  the  success  which  the 
exigencies  of  the  crisis  demanded,  and  the  plan  was  then 
abandoned  and  the  armies  diverted  up  the  Tennessee  river 
and  thence  southward  to  the  center  of  the  Confederate 
power. 

The  evidence  before  this  committee  completely  establishes 
that  Miss  Anna  Ella  Carroll  was  the  author  of  this  change 
of  plan,  which  involved  a  transfer  of  the  national  forces  to 


MISS    CARROLL    BEFORE    CONGRESS.  U* 

their  new  base  in  north  Mississippi  and  Alabama,  in  com 
mand  of  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  railroad.    That  she 
devoted  time  and  money  in  the  autumn  of  1861  to  the  in 
vestigation  of  its  feasability  is  established  by  the  sworn  tes 
timony  of  L.  D.  Evans,  chief  justice  of  the  supreme  court 
of  Texas,  to  the  Military  Committee  of  the  United  States 
Senate  in  the  4*d  Congress  (see  pp.  40,  41  of  the  memo 
rial)  ;  that  after  that  investigation  she  submitted  her  plan 
in  writing  to  the  War  Department  at  Washington,  placing 
it  in  the  hands  of  Col.  Thomas  A.  Scott,  Assistant  Secre 
tary  of  War,  as  is  confirmed  by  his  statement  (see  p.  38  o 
the  memorial)  ;  also  confirmed  by  the  statement  of  Hon.  B. 
F.  Wade,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the  Condud 
the  War,  made  to  the  same  committee  (see  p.  38),  and  of 
President  Lincoln  and  Secretary  Stanton  (see  p.  39  of  me 
morial)  ;  also  by  Hon.  O.  H.  Browning,  of  Illinois,  Senator 
during  thewar,  in  confidential  relations  with  President  Lin 
coln  and  Secretary  Stanton  (see  p.  39  of  memorial)  ;  also 
thatof  Hon.Elisha  Whittlesey,  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury 
(see  p   41  of  memorial)  ;  also  by  Hon.  Thomas  H.  Hicks, 
Governor  of  Maryland,  and  by  Hon.  Frederick  Feckey's 
affidavit,  Comptroller  of  the  Public  Works  of  Maryland 
(see  p.  127  of  memorial)  ;  by  Hon.  Reverdy  Johnson  (see 
pp.  26  and  41  of  memorial)  ;  Hon.  George  Vickers,  United 
States  Senator  from  Maryland  (see  p.  41  of  memorial)  ;  again 
by  Hon  B  F.  Wade  (see  p.  41  of  memorial)  ;  Hon.  J.  T. 
Headley  (see  p.  43  of  memorial)  ;  Rev.  Dr.  R.  J.  Brecken- 
ridge  on  services  (see  p.  47   of  memorial)  ;   Prof.  Joseph 
Henry,  Rev.  Dr.  Hodge,  of  theological  seminary  at  Prince- 


142          MISS  CARROLL  BEFORE  CONGRESS. 

ton  (see  p.  30  of  memorial)  ;  remarkable  interviews  and 
correspondence  of  Judge  B.  F.  Wade  (see  pp.  23-26  of 
memorial). 

That  this  campaign  prevented  the  recognition  of  Southern 
independence  by  its  fatal  effects  on  the  Confederate  States 
is  shown  by  letters  from  Hon.  C.  M.  Clay  (see  pp.  40,  43 
of  memorial),  and  by  his  letters  from  St.  Petersburg!! ;  also 
those  of  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Dayton  from  London  and 
Paris  (see  pp.  100-102  of  memorial). 

That  the  campaign  defeated  national  bankruptcy,  then 
imminent,  and  opened  the  way  for  a  system  of  finance  to  de 
fend  the  Federal  cause  is  shown  by  the  debates  of  the  period 
in  both  Houses  of  Congress  ;  by  the  utterances  of  Mr.  Spal- 
ding,  Mr.  Diven,  Mr.  Thaddeus  Stevens,  Mr.  Roscoe 
Conkling,  Mr.  John  Sherman,  Mr.  Henry  Wilson,  Mr. 
Fessenden,  Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr.  Foster,  Mr.  Garrett  Davis, 
Mr.  John  C.  Crittenden,  &c.,  found  for  convenient  refer 
ence  in  appendix  to  memorial,  page  59  \  also  therein  the 
opinion  of  the  English  press  as  to  why  the  Union  could 
not  be  restored. 

The  condition  of  the  struggle  can  best  be  realized  as  de 
picted  by  the  leading  statesmen  in  Congress  previous  to  the 
execution  of  these  military  movements  (see  synopsis  of  de 
bates  from  Congressional  Globe,  pp.  21,  22  of  memorial). 

The  effect  of  this  campaign  upon  the  country  and  the 
anxiety  to  find  out  and  reward  the  author  are  evinced  by 
the  resolution  of  Mr.  Roscoe  Conkling  in  the  House  ot 
Representatives,  24th  of  February,  1862  (see  debates  on 
the  origin  of  the  campaign,  pp.  39-63  of  memorial).  But 


MISS  CARROLL  BEFORE  CONGRESS.          143 

it  was  deemed  prudent  to  make  no  public  claim  as  to 
authorship  while  the  war  lasted  (see  Colonel  Scott's  view, 
p.  32  of  memorial). 

The  wisdom  of  the  plan  was  proven,  not  only  by  the  ab 
solute  advantages  which  resulted,  giving  the  mastery  of  the 
conflict  to  the  national  arms  and  ever  more  assuring  their 
success  even  against  the  powers  of  all  Europe  should  they 
have  combined,  but  it  was  likewise  proven  by  the  failures 
to  open  the  Mississippi  or  win  any  decided  success  on  the 
plan  first  devised  by  the  Government. 

It  is  further  conclusively  shown  that  no  plan,  order,  let 
ter,  telegram,  or  suggestion  of  the  Tennessee  river  as  the 
line  of  invasion  has  ever  been  produced  except  in  the  paper 
submitted  by  Miss  Carroll  on  the  3oth  of  November,  1861, 
and  her  subsequent  letters  to  the  Government  as  the  cam 
paign  progressed. 

It  is  further  shown  to  this  committee  that  the  able  and 
patriotic  publications  of  the  memorialist  in  pamphlets  and 
newspapers,  with  her  high  social  influence,  not  only  largely 
contributed  to  the  cause  of  the  Union  in  her  own  State, 
Maryland  (see  Governor  Hicks'  letters,  p.  27  of  memorial), 
but  exerted  a  wide  and  salutary  influence  on  all  the  border 
States  (see  Howard's  Report,  p.  33,  and  p.  75  of  memorial). 
These  publications  were  used  by  the  Government  as  war 
measures,  and  the  debate  in  Congress  shows  that  she  was 
the  first  writer  on  the  war  powers  of  the  Government  (see 
p.  45  of  memorial).     Leading  statesmen  and  jurists  bore 
testimony  to  their  value,  including  President  Lincoln,  Sec 
retaries  Chase,  Stanton,  Seward,  Welles,  Smith,  Attorney 


144  MISS    CARROLL   BEFORE    CONGRESS. 

General  Bates,  Senators  Browning,  DooHttle,  Collamer, 
Cowan,  Reverdy  Johnson,  and  Hicks,  Hon.  Horace  Bin- 
ney,  Hon.  Benjamin  H.  Brewster,  Hon.  William  M.  Mere 
dith,  Hon.  Robert  J.  Walker,  Hon.  Charles  O'Connor, 
Hon.  Edwards  Pierrepont,  Hon.  Edward  Everett,  Hon. 
Thomas  Corwin,  Hon.  Francis  Thomas,  of  Maryland,  and 
many  others,  found  in  memorial. 

The  Military  Committee,  through  General  Howard,  in 
the  Forty-first  Congress,  3d  session,  Document  No.  337, 
unanimously  reported  that  Miss  Carroll  did  cause  the 
change  of  the  military  expedition  from  the  Mississippi  to 
the  Tennessee,  &c.  ;  and  the  aforesaid  act  of  the  42d  Con 
gress,  2d  session,  Document  No.  167,  as  found  in  memorial, 
reported  through  Hon.  Henry  Wilson  the  evidence  and  bill 
in  support  of  this  claim.  Again,  in  the  Forty-fourth  Con 
gress,  the  Military  Committee  of  the  House  favorably  con 
sidered  this  claim,  and  Gen.  A.  S.  Williams  was  prepared 
to  report,  and,  being  prevented  by  want  of  time,  placed  on 
record  that  this  claim  is  incontestably  established,  and  that 
the  country  owes  to  Miss  Carroll  a  large  and  honest  com 
pensation,  both  in  money  and  in  honors,  for  her  services 
in  the  national  crises. 

In  view  of  all  these  facts,  this  committee  believes  that 
the  thanks  of  the  nation  are  due  Miss  Carroll,  and  that 
they  are  fully  justified  in  recommending  that  she  be  placed 
on  the  pension  rolls  of  the  Government  as  a  partial  meas 
ure  of  recognition  for  her  public  service,  and  report  here 
with  a  bill  for  such  purpose  and  recommend  its  passage. 


MISS    CARROLL    BEFORE    CONGRESS.  145 

Hon.  E.  M.  Stan  ton  came  into  the  War  Department  in 
1862  pledged  to  execute  the  Tennessee  campaign. 

Statement  from  Hon.  B.  F.  Wade,  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  April  4,  1876. 
(This  is  the  long  letter  from  Mr.  Wade,  which  we  have  al 
ready  given,  and  we  need  not  repeat  it.) 


General  Bragg  prepared  and  suggested  the  following  bill 
to  accompany  the  report  : 

*"  Be  it  enacted,  That  the  same  sum  and  emoluments 
given  by  the  Government  to  the  major  generals  of  the 
United  States  Army  be  paid  to  Anna  Ella  Carroll  from 
rlie  date  of  her  services  to  the  country,  in  November,  1861, 
to  the  time  of  the  passage  of  this  act;  and  the  further  pay 
ment  of  the  same  amount  as  the  pay  and  emoluments  of  a 
major  general  of  the  United  States  Army  be  paid  to  her  in 
quarterly  installments  to  the  end  of  her  life,  as  a  partial 
measure  of  recognition  of  her  services  to  the  nation,"  and 
recommend  its  passage. 

To  suggest  a  bill  that  should  rightfully  mark  the  pre 
eminently  military  nature  of  the  services  rendered  with 
out  giving  offense  to  the  class  accustomed  to  monopolize 
the  sounding  titles  and  to  wear  the  glittering  plumes  was 
a  wonderfully  difficult  thing  to  do.  Here  at  least  was  a 
brave  and  honest  effort  to  accomplish  what  no  previous 
committee  had  even  attempted.  The  other  committees 


*  I  copied  this  from  a  printed  account  some  years  ago.  Conversing  lately 
with  a  friend  of  General  Bragg,  I  was  assured  that  this  was  the  first  bill 
prepared. 

IO  C 


146  MISS    CARROLL    BEFORE    CONGRESS. 

had  left  the  award  a  blank,  to  be  filled  in  by  a  puzzled  and 
unwilling  Congress,  who  preferred  to  do  nothing  at  all. 

In  England  probably  there  would  not  have  been  the 
same  insuperable  difficulty,  a  sovereign  lady  holding  high 
military  office  as  a  matter  of  course  ;  but  we  have  thrown 
aside  some  noble  traditions,  and  America  never  has  a 
sovereign  lady. 

There  was  something  noble  and  fitting  in  this  recom 
mendation  of  award  by  General  Bragg.  Considering  how 
great  public  services  have  been  formerly  rewarded,  it  was 
certainly  not  extreme. 

To  go  back  to  English  history : 

"  The  Duke  of  Marlborough,  who  commanded  the  allied 
armies  of  England,  Austria,  and  Germany,  received  the 
most  flattering  testimonials  in  all  forms.  A  principality  was 
voted  to  him  in  Germany,  while  the  English  Government 
settled  upon  him  the  manor  of  Woodstock,  long  a  royal 
residence,  and  erected  thereon  a  magnificent  palace  as  an 
expression  of  a  nation's  gratitude.  On  the  Duke  of  Welling 
ton  honors,  offices,  and  rewards  were  showered  from  every 
quarter.  The  crown  exhausted  its  stores  of  titles,  and  in 
addition  to  former  grants  the  sum  of  ^200,000  was  voted 
in  1815  for  the  purchase  of  a  mansion  and  estate,  etc.  The 
rank  of  field  marshal  in  four  of  the  greatest  armies  in  the 
world  was  bestowed  by  the  leading  governments  of  Europe. 

".In  England  it  has  for  a  long  time  been  the  custom  to 
reward  and  honor  those  illustrious  in  the  realms  of  science 
and  literature  as  well  as  of  military  success.  Though  with 
less  demonstration  and  expenditure  of  wealth,  our  own 


MISS  CARROLL  BEFORE  CONGRESS.          147 

country  has  not  overlooked  signal  services  in  its  behalf. 
The  government  of  Pennsylvania  in  the  days  of  the  Revo 
lution  voted  ,£2,500  for  the  political  writings  of  Thomas 
Paine,  and  New  York  a  farm  of  300  acres  in  a  high  state  or 
cultivation,  with  elegant  and  spacious  buildings.  Washing 
ton  himself  gave  a  woman  a  sergeant's  commission  in  the 
army,  who  stood  at  the  gun  by  which  her  husband  had 
fallen,  and  on  his  recommendation  she  was  placed  on  the 
pay-roll  for  life. 

"  Congress,  in  pursuance  of  this  feeling,  has  not  been  un 
mindful  of  Anderson's  heroic  defense  of  Fort  Suniter,  of 
Farragut's  capture  of  New  Orleans,  of  Rawlins,  etc.,  of 
Stan  ton,  and  of  Lincoln,  in  conferring  tokens  of  recognition 
for  their  services  upon  the  families  who  survived  them. 
Many  instances  might  be  cited  where  public-spirited 
women  have  been  rewarded  for  services  rendered  in  indi 
vidual  cases  during  the  late  struggle  and  in  other  forms 
since." 

And  was  it  not  fitting  that  the  author  of  such  influential 
pamphlets  and  the  designer  of  the  remarkable  plan  of  the 
Tennessee  campaign  should  be  honorably  recognized  and 
rewarded  ? 

Miss  Carroll  was  in  her  66th  year  at  the  time  of  General 
Bragg's  recommendation.  Her  father  was  no  longer  living, 
her  family  was  scattered,  her  health  was  failing,  and  her 
time,  strength,  and  fortune  had  been  wholly  expended  in 
the  service  of  her  country  with  noble  generosity  and  the 
most  brilliant  results.  Surely  she  deserved  to  spend  the 
remaining  years  of  her  life  in  honorable  independence, 


148  MISS   CARROLL   BEFORE   CONGRESS. 

distinguished  and  beloved  by  the  nation  to  whom  she  had 
rendered  incalculable  service. 

Now  it  seemed  as  if,  after  such  an  unqualified  indorse 
ment  of  her  work  by  three  successive  military  committees 
appointed  for  the  purpose,  and  a  suitable  bill  prepared,  that 
surely  her  cause  was  won.  Miss  Carroll  had  been  informed 
of  the  report  and  of  the  bill  that  had  been  prepared.  But 
the  Military  Committee,  having  made  this  excellent  sum 
mary  of  evidence,  indorsed  Miss  Carroll's  claim  in  the 
strongest  manner,  and  prepared  a  noble  and  fitting  bill, 
became  greatly  alarmed  at  what  they  had  done.  Leaving 
their  report  unchanged,  at  the  last  moment  they  hastily 
withdrew  the  dignified  and  fitting  bill  and  substituted  in 
its  place  the  following  surprising  performance  : 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  be,  and  he  is  hereby,  authorized 
and  directed  to  place  upon  the  pension-rolls  of  the  United 
States  the  name  of  Anna  Ella  Carroll,  and  to  pay  to  her  a 
pension  of  fifty  dollars  per  month  from  and  after  the  pas 
sage  of  this  act,  during  her  life,  for  the  important  military 
service  rendered  the  country  by  her  during  the  late  civil 
war." 

Such  a  report  and  such  a  bill  side  by  side  stand  an 
anomaly  unparalleled. 

Truly  the  life  of  the  nation  was  rated  as  a  cheap  thing. 

Of  course  the  bill  died  immediately  of  its  own  glaring 
and  ineffable  meanness. 

One  can  hardly  say  whether  it  would  have  been  the  more 


MISS    CARROLL    BEFORE    CONGRESS.  149 

unworthy  thing  to  pass  such  a  bill  or  to  pass  none  at  all ; 
but  the  last,  being  the  most  timorous  course,  had  been 
adopted  for  ten  successive  years,  as  it  has  also  been  re 
sorted  to  in  the  ten  succeeding  ones. 

The  Military  Committee  of  1881,  having  accomplished 
this  astonishing  feat,  threw  away  their  arms  and  ignomini- 
ously  fled — and  Congress  followed  in  the  rear,  indefinitely 
postponing  action  on  an  unwelcome  claim,  that  always 
would  \.\\\\\  up  "  incontestably  proven." 


CHAPTER  IX. 


A   WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES    FROM    THE     FIELD — INTER 
VIEW    WITH    GRANT THE    WOMEN    OF  AMERICA   MAKE  THE 

CAUSE   THEIR    OWN A    NATIONAL    LESSON. 

Miss  Carroll,  urged  on  by  the  friends  of  justice  and  his 
torical  verity,  had  made  great  efforts  rightly  to  present  her 
case  and  to  get  together  a  wonderful  mass  of  indubitable 
testimony. 

She  had  been  informed  of  the  thorough  endorsement  of 
her  claim  made  by  the  Military  Committee  and  reported  by 
General  Bragg,  and  of  the  noble  and  fitting  bill  which  he 
had  prepared.  Then  came  that  pitiful  little  bill  and  the 
adjournment  of  Congress  without  taking  further  action 
upon  the  claim. 

She  perhaps  did  not  realize,  in  the  presence  of  what  seemed 
immediate  defeat,  that  she  had  performed  a  great  and  lasting 
historical  work  in  putting  the  whole  matter  on  immovable 
record  ;  but  she  certainly  realized  that,  though  an  angel 
should  come  from  heaven  to  testify,  it  would  be  useless  to 
expect  national  recognition.  A  reaction  of  discourage 
ment  followed,  and  she  was  suddenly  stricken  down  by 
paralysis,  which  threatened  at  once  to  terminate  her  noble 
life.  For  three  years  she  hovered  between  life  and  death, 
no  hope  being  entertained  of  her  recovery.  Then  the 
natural  vigor  of  her  constitution  reasserted  itself,  and  she 

(150) 


A    WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES.  151 

slowly  regained  a  very  considerable  portion  of  health ;  but 
any  subsequent  efforts  with  regard  to  her  claim,  though  re 
ceiving  her  assent,  had  to  be  made  without  her  personal 
co-operation,  as  mental  fatigue  was  imperatively  forbidden. 
She  had  ceased  to  hope  for  any  benefit  to  herself  personally 
from  the  prosecution  of  her  claim  ;  but,  rejoicing  in  the 
sense  of  the  great  work  that  she  had  been  providentially 
called  upon  to  accomplish,  she  rested  in  the  serene  convic 
tion  that  with  the  incontestable  evidence  that  had  been 
presented  the  facts  could  not  be  forever  buried  out  of  sight, 
and  that  ultimately  the  truths  of  history  would  be  secure. 

When  Miss  Carroll,  who  had  hitherto  been  as  a  tower  of 
strength  to  her  family,  was  suddenly  stricken  down,  fortune 
seemed  to  be  at  its  lowest  ebb  ;  but  again  the  Carroll  energy 
and  ability  came  to  the  rescue.  An  unmarried  sister,  with 
noble  devotion,  sustained  the  nation's  benefactress.  She 
obtained  work  in  teaching  in  Baltimore  and  by  hard  daily 
toil  provided  for  her  support.  But  those  were  very  dark 
days  that  followed.  Then  this  same  brave  sister,  through 
the  influence  of  an  eminent  lady  at  the  White  House, 
obtained  a  clerkship  at  the  Treasury,  at  Washington,  brought 
her  sister  from  Baltimore  and  established  her  in  a  little  un 
pretending  family  home,  which  she  has  sustained  to  this  day. 

NOTE. — Owing  to  the  confusion  attendant  upon  Miss  Carroll's  well-nigh 
fatal  illness  and  her  subsequent  removal  to  Baltimore,  a  trunk  and  box 
marked  A.  B-  C.  were  left  behind  at  the  Tremont  House,  in  Washington. 

After  the  severe  three  years'  prostration  ended,  Miss  Carroll  inquired  for 
this  trunk  and  box,  and  learned  that  the  Tremont  House  had  gone  into  other 
hands  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Hill  ;  that  all  its  contents  had  been  sold  off,  and 
to  this  day  she  has  sought  in  vain  to  learn  what  has  become  of  that  box  and 
trunk.  They  contained  a  great  number  of  letters,  a  completed  history  of 
Maryland,  and  her  materials  for  several  projected  works. 


152  A    WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES. 

Thus,  through  the  cruel  neglect  she  had  experienced,  the  world  has  lost 
the  benefit  of  works  which,  from  her  exceptional  ability  and  her  exceptional 
opportunities,  would  have  been  of  inestimable  value  to  our  future  literature. 

If  any  one  knows  of  the  fate  of  that  trunk  and  box  they  are  requested  to 
send  word  to  Miss  Carroll  or  to  the  present  writer,  and  if  ever  that  history 
of  Maryland  comes  to  light  it  will  be  claimed  for  Miss  Carroll,  as  there  are 
internal  evidences  which  would  establish  its  identity. 

Governor  Hicks  a  few  days  before  his  death  committed  to  Miss  Carroll  all 
his  papers  with  a  request  that  she  would  write  the  history  of  Maryland  in 
connection  with  the  civil  war,  and  the  part  performed  by  him  in  the  main 
tenance  of  the  Union. 

Cassius  M.  Clay  also  sent  to  her  his  letters  and  papers  desiring  that  she 
should  write  his  biography. 

During  Miss  Carroll's  long  and  apparently  hopeless  illness  Mr.  Clay's 
letters  were  sent  for  and  returned  to  him. 

Another  ray  of  light,  too,  had  come  to  cheer  the  invalid. 
A  new  power  was  rising  upon  the  horizon  in  the  growing 
thoughtfulness  and  development  of  women,  now  banding 
together  in  clubs,  societies,  and  confederations,  with  their 
own  journals,  newspapers,  and  publications,  and  with  the 
avowed  determination  of  never  resting  until  women,  as  an 
integral  half  of  the  people,'  had  obtained  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  proclaimed  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
the  granting  of  which  alone  could  make  of  our  country  a 
sound  and  true  Republic  and  secure  the  ultimate  triumph  of 
the  moral  and  humane  considerations  and  measures  upon 
which  its  welfare  must  depend. 

Naturally,  when  this  growing  party  came  to  know  of 
Miss  Carroll's  remarkable  work  they  were  not  disposed  to 
let  it  fall  into  oblivion.  It  seemed  as  if  the  Lord  himself 
had  declared  for  their  cause  in  giving  to  a  woman,  at  the 
crisis  of  the  national  peril,  the  remarkable  illumination 
that,  so  far  as  human  knowledge  can  judge,  had  turned  the 


A   WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES.  153 

scale  of  war  in  favor  of  our  National  Union,  and  had  thus 
pledged  the  country  for  all  future  time  to  the  just  recogni 
tion  of  the  equal  rights  of  women  as  an  integral  half  of 
the  people,  and  of  equal  importance  with  their  brethren  to 
the  welfare  of  the  State.  Every  effort  may  be  made  to 
ignore  and  hide  the  remarkable  fact,  but  the  work  of  the 
Lord  remains  steadfast,  immovable,  and  incapable  of  last 
ing  defeat. 

"  The  moving  finger  writes, 

And,  having  writ, 

Moves  on." 

A  notice  of  Miss  Carroll  and  her  brilliant  achievements 
had  been  written  by  Mrs.  Matilda  Joselyn  Gage  and  in 
corporated  in  the  history  of  Woman  Suffrage,  a  consider 
able  work,  giving  a  sketch  of  the  career  of  many  eminent 
women.  Mrs.  Gage  also  wrote  and  circulated  a  pamphlet 
calling  attention  to  the  case,  and  Miss  Phoebe  Couzzins  made 
great  exertions  in  her  behalf.  One  and  another  began  to 
inquire  what  had  become  of  the  woman  who  had  done  such 
wondrous  work  for  the  national  cause  and  had  been  treated 
with  such  deep  ingratitude.  Mrs.  Cornelia  C.  Hussey, 
daughter  of  a  high-principled  New  York  family  of  friends, 
sought  her  out,  visited  her  at  Baltimore,  cheered  her  with 
her  sympathy,  and,  interesting  others  in  her  behalf,  she 
was  enabled  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  devoted  sister. 
She  induced  the  North  American  Review ',  of  April,  1886, 
to  publish  an  account  furnished  by  Miss  Carroll,  and  she 
procured  the  publication  of  a  series  of  letters  in  the 
Woman' s  Journal,  of  Boston,  that  increased  the  knowledge 


154  A    WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES. 

and    interest    beginning    to    be    felt    for    Miss    Carroll's 
work. 

Petitions  began  to  pour  in  asking  Congress  to  take  ac 
tion  in  the  case.  In  1885  it  was  taken  up  by  the  Court  of 
Claims,  and  in  case  93  may  be  seen  the  result.  The  evi 
dence  presented,  though  remarkable,  was  by  no  means  as 
complete  as  it  should  have  been,  owing  to  Miss  Carroll's 
illness  and  to  the  difficulty  of  now  procuring  copies  of  her 
pamphlets.  Consequently,  though  the  judgment  rendered 
makes  notable  admissions  and  the  moral  assent  runs  all 
through,  the  court  was  enabled,  through  some  legal  defects, 
to  retransmit  the  case  to  Congress  for  its  consideration  ; 
and  having  once  made  its  decision,  the  case  cannot  again 
come  before  that  court  without  a  direct  order  from  Con 
gress  to  take  it  up  and  try  it  again. 

Looking  over  the  brief  at  the  Court  of  Claims,  made  by 
the  late  Colonel  Warden,  I  noted  this  significant  passage : 

*  "  It  may  not  be  amiss  here  to  submit  that  the  two  and 
only  drawbacks  or  obstacles  that  we  have  met  to  the  im 
mediate,  prompt,  and  unanimous  passage  of  an  act  of  Con 
gress  in  recognition  of  and  adequate  compensation  for  the 
patriotic  services  and  successful  military  strategy  of  Miss 
Carroll  in  the  late  civil  war  are  found  first  in  an  obstruc 
tion  which  President  Lincoln  encountered  and  which  he 
referred  to  when  he  explained  to  Senator  Wade  that  the 
Tennessee  plan  was  devised  by  Miss  Carroll,  and  military 
men  were  exceedingly  jealous  of  all  outside  interference." 
(House  Miss.  Doc.  58).  "The  second  obstacle  which  has 

*  Brief  of  claimant  in  Congressional  case  93. 


A    WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES.  155 

stayed  us  is  founded  in  a  (to  some  men)  seemingly  insu 
perable  objection,  often  demonstrated  in  words  and  acts 
by  our  legislators — a  misfortune  or  disability  (if  it  be  one) 
over  which  Miss  Carroll  had  no  control  whatever,  namely, 
in  the  fact  that  she  is  a  woman." 

It  would  appear  that  the  decision  of  the  Court  of  Claims 
retransmitting  the  claim  to  Congress  was  considered  by 
Miss  Carroll's  friends  to  be  in  her  favor. 

Erastus  Brooks  writes  her  at  this  time : 

DEAR  Miss  CARROLL  : 

Your  "  Reminiscences  of  Lincoln"  (a  work  suggested 
by  Mrs.  Hussey)  should,  as  far  as  possible,  bring  out  the 
words  and  own  thoughts  of  the  man.  The  subject,  the 
man,  and  the  occasion  are  the  points  to  be  treated,  and  in 
this  order,  perhaps. 

Again,  my  old  and  dear  friend,  I  am  very  glad  and  hope 
the  award  will  meet  all  your  expectations — mental,  pecuni 
ary,  and  of  every  kind.  The  hope  of  the  award  to  your 
self  and  friends  must  be  as  satisfactory  as  the  judgment  of  the 
court. 

Yours,  ERASTUS  BROOKS. 

Miss  Carroll  showed  this  letter  to  Mrs.  Hussey,  who 
copied  and  immediately  published  it. 

Miss  Carroll,  who  had  always  been  on  friendly  terms 
with  General  Grant,  spoke  to  him  of  her  claim.  They 
conversed  together  concerning  her  work.  He  assured  her 
that  he  had  not  been  aware  of  its  extent,  and  advised  her 
by  all  means  to  continue  to  push  her  claim.  I  have  seen 
the  draft  of  a  letter,  written  by  Miss  Carroll  at  this  time,  to 
General  Grant  in  which  she  alludes  to  the  advice  he  had 


156  A    WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES. 

given  her  to  push  her  claim  before  Congress.  The  letter 
is  written  in  the  friendliest  spirit  and  in  a  tone  of  touching 
modesty.  It  should  be  here  noted  that  there  never  was 
any  antagonism  between  these  two  who  had  done  such 
great  work  for  the  salvation  of  their  country. 

Cassius  M.  Clay  wrote  to  the  editor  of  the  New  York  Sun 
the  following  letter,  as  published  in  that  journal  : 

WHITE  HALL,  KENTUCKY,  March  j,  1886. 

In  1 86 1,  as  soon  as  I  could  get  General  Scott  apart  from 
his  staff  of  rebel  sympathizers,  I  advised  him  to  reach  the 
Southern  forces  by  all  the  water-ways,  as  the  shortest  and 
most  practical  lines  of  attack.  This  advice  was  hardly 
necessary  as  every  tyro  in  the  Union  Army  would  probably 
have  done  the  same.  But  it  belonged  to  Miss  Anna  Ella 
Carroll  to  project  and  force  upon  the  bewildered  army  of 
ficers — Halleck,  Grant,  and  others — the  cutting  in  two  of 
the  Confederacy  by  way  of  the  Tennessee  river  by  means  of 
the  gunboats,  and  of  our  facilities  of  thus  concentrating 
troops  and  supplies.  It  was  the  great  strategical  coup  of 
the  war. 

I  call  the  attention  of  the  American  nation  to  Miss 
Carroll's  article  in  the  April  number  of  the  North  American 
Review  of  1886.  It  appears  that  the  splendid  conception 
of  this  project  called  for  the  immediate  reward  of  a  grateful 
Congress  as  the  representative  of  the  whole  people.  But 
when  it  was  found  that  it  was  neither  Grant,  nor  Halleck, 
nor  Buell,  but  a  woman,  who  showed  more  genius  and  pa 
triotism  than  all  the  army  of  military  men,  the  resolution 
was  suppressed  and  the  combined  effort  of  many  of  the 
ablest  men  of  the  Republican  party  could  never  resurrect  it. 
Miss  Carroll  merely  states  her  case.  There  is  no  event  in 
history  better  backed  up-with  impregnable  evidence. 

CASSIUS  M.  CLAY. 


A    WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES.  157 

Mr.  Clay  also  wrote  to  Mrs.  Hussey  the  following  letter, 
which  she  sends  me  for  publication  : 

April  12,  1886. 
C.  C.  HUSSEY. 

DEAR  MADAME  :  Your  letter  and  circular  of  the  8th  inst. 
are  received.  I  was  a  long  time  a  correspondent  of  Miss 
C.,  never  having  seen  her,  but  holding  a  letter  of  introduc 
tion  from  Vice-President  Henry  Wilson.  I  have  no  stand 
point  in  politics  of  influence  now.  *  *  Miss  Carroll's 
case  shows  the  infinite  baseness  of  human  nature — how  few 
worship  truth  and  justice.  I  am  already  assailed  for  speak 
ing  a  word  in  her  cause,  and  shall  have  all  the  old  feuds 
against  me  revived;  but  I  am  not  dependent  upon  the 
American  people  for  subsistence  and  am  not  a  petitioner  for 
money  or  office,  so  I  speak  my  mind. 
Very  truly  yours, 

C.  M.  CLAY. 

Miss  Katharine  Mason,  Miss  Anna  C.  Waite,  Miss  Phoebe 
Couzzensy  Mrs.  H.  J.  Boutelle,  Mrs.  Louisa  D.  Southworth, 
Mrs.  Esther  Herrman,  and  a  host  of  other  prominent 
ladies  in  succession  took  up  the  cause,  publishing  articles 
east  and  west,  and  speaking  upon  the  subject  or  contrib 
uting  in  some  way  to  the  cause.  Petitions  to  Congress  con 
tinued  asking  attention  to  Miss  Carroll's  case,  and  that  due 
recognition  and  award  should  be  accorded  to  her.  High- 
principled  Senators  and  Representatives  would  take  up 
these  petitions  and  present  them  with  their  own  endorse 
ment  of  the  case.  Bat  ten  righteous  men  count  for  little 
among  a  mass  of  Senators  and  Representatives  wildly  push 
ing  their  own  individual  and  party  measures.  Every  human 
being  with  a  ballot  might  be  worthy  of  their  attention,  but 


158  A   WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES. 

a  disfranchised  class  must  go  to  the  wall.  With  every  ex 
tension  of  the  ballot  such  a  class  sinks  deeper  and  deeper 
in  the  scale,  and  the  disregard  and  contempt  for  women  and 
their  claims  becomes  inborn — for  law  is  an  educator. 

In  the  spring  of  1890  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Root  spent  weeks  in 
Washington  verifying,  step  by  step,  the  incontrovertible 
facts  of  Miss  Carroll's  work.  The  Woman's  Tribune,  of 
Washington,  generously  published  a  large  edition  of  their 
report,  enclosed  advanced  sheets,  with  a  personal  letter,  to 
every  Senator  and  Representative,  and  laid  them  upon 
their  desks,  with  the  invariable  result  of  continued  neglect. 

Mrs.  Abby  Gannett  Wells,  of  a  highly  cultivated  Boston 
family,  took  up  the  cause  with  enthusiasm,  made  a  tour 
among  the  army  relief  posts,  and  created  among  soldiers 
and  soldiers'  wives  a  lively  interest  in  the  work  of  their 
great  coadjutor.  Tokens  of  recognition  were  sent  to  Miss 
Carroll,  and  many  a  retired  veteran,  beside  his  evening 
fire,  put  down  his  name  to  petitions  for  her  just  recognition. 
Then  this  brave  lady  made  another  effort.  She  published 
in  the  Boston  Sunday  Herald,  of  February,  1890,  an 
account,  from  which  we  give  the  following  extract,  having 
already  given  extracts  from  the  earlier  portion  : 

"  In  the  last  year  so  many  women  throughout  the 
country  had  come  to  take  an  interest  in  this  case,  petitions 
to  Congress  asking  for  Miss  Carroll's  suitable  recognition 
and  remuneration  were  sent  in  considerable  numbers,  some 
being  presented  in  the  Senate  by  Mr.  Hoar  and  some  in 
the  House  by  Mr.  Lodge.  In  September  last,  at  an  inter 
view  with  these  gentlemen  in  Boston,  I  learned  it  to  be 


A    WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES.  159 

their  opinion  that  if  I  made  a  plea  in  Miss  Carroll's  behalf 
before  the  two  Congressional  Committees  on  Military 
Affairs  an  interest  might  be  aroused  to  lead  to  successful 
results.  I  therefore  promised  to  visit  Washington,  and 
went  to  the  city  in  the  second  week  in  February  of  the 
present  year. 

"The  bill  calling  for  an  appropriation  from  Congress 
for  Miss  Carroll's  services  during  the  civil  war,  such  services 
consisting  of  the  preparation  of  papers  used  as  war  measures 
and  the  furnishing  of  the  military  plan  for  our  western 
armies,  known  as  the  plan  of  the  Tennessee  campaign,  had 
already  been  presented  in  the  Senate  by  General  Mander- 
son,  of  Nebraska,  and  in  the  House  by  Mr.  Lodge,  of 
Massachusetts.  As  Mr.  Hoar  was  ill  when  I  arrived  in 
Washington,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Manderson,  asking 
for  an  early  hearing  for  me,  and  then  sent  his  private  secre 
tary  to  conduct  me  to  that  gentleman  in  person.  I  write 
particulars  of  the  obtaining  of  these  hearings  simply  to 
show  that  even  a  case  demanding  urgent  action  like  this 
finds  unexpected  obstacles  that  threaten  to  retard  it  in 
definitely. 

"  Mr.  Manderson  met  me  kindly,  but  stated  that  the  com 
mittee  had  such  a  pressure  of  business  on  hand  it  seemed 
impossible  to  take  time  for  Miss  Carroll's  case,  greatly  as 
some  of  the  members  had  it  at  heart.  But  on  my  replying 
that  I  represented  the  wishes  of  many  women,  and  we  could 
appeal  nowhere  else  in  order  for  this  injustice  to  be  righted, 
he  said  if  I  would  come  to  the  committee-room  on  the 
morning  of  the  5th  I  should  be  given  what  time  was  possi- 


l6o  A   WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES. 

ble.  On  that  morning  General  Havvley,  the  chairman, 
received  me  pleasantly,  but  stated,  as  he  introduced  me  to 
the  members,  that  it  was  unusual  to  give  such  a  hearing, 
and  he  trusted  that  I  would  occupy  only  a  little  time  ;  but 
I  am  glad  to  add  that  the  committee's  courtesy  quite  ex 
ceeded  what  might  be  expected  of  these  busy  workers.  I 
had  over  half  an  hour  of  their  most  earnest  attention,  and 
if  the  expressions  upon  their  faces  were  a  criterion  to  judge 
by,  Miss  Carroll's  story  was  not  without  its  effect  upon  their 
sympathy  and  sense  of  right.  I  was  particularly  glad  to  see 
such  evidences,  because  among  their  members  were  ex-Con 
federates,  Gen.  Wade  Hampton  being  one. 

"When  Mr.  Lodge  presented  me  to  General  Cutcheon, 
chairman  of  the  House  committee,  I  heard  again  the  plea 
of  overmuch  business  ;  yet  the  concession  was  made — I 
might  come  on  the  morning  of  the  yth  and  occupy  a  "  few 
minutes."  Promptly  at  the  hour  I  was  at  the  committee- 
room,  and  since  the  time  was  to  be  so  short  I  had  put  aside 
my  notes  and  was  telling  of  Miss  Carroll's  work,  and  grow 
ing  sure  of  the  interest  of  my  listeners,  when  the  chairman 
interrupted,  saying  that  it  now  occurred  to  him  that  a  bill 
asking  for  an  appropriation  belonged  with  the  Committee 
on  War  Claims.  A  book  was  consulted,  and  it  became  the 
opinion  of  the  committee  that  this  bill  did  belong  with  the 
War  Claims  Committee.  As,  in  order  for  me  to  appear 
before  that  committee,  the  bill  would  have  to  go  back  to 
the  House  and  be  remanded  there,  and  there  might  be  some 
delay  about  it,  the  Military  Committee  passed  a  unanimous 
vote  asking  the  Committee  on  War  Claims  to  hear  my  plea 


A    WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES.  l6l 

at  their  next  meeting,  in  vie\v  of  the  bill  not  appearing  until 
later. 

"  This  was  discouraging,  and  the  matter  grew  more  so 
when,  on  meeting  General  Thomas,  of  the  War  Claims 
Committee,  I  was  assured  that  the  bill  could  not  possibly 
belong  there.  By  good  fortune  I  met  General  Cutcheon 
at  one  of  the  doors  of  the  ladies'  gallery  of  the  House,  and 
I  told  him  the  dilemma.  He  generously  went  to  the 
Speaker  and  got  his  decision,  which  was  that  either  com 
mittee  could  decide  as  to  the  merits  of  the  bill.  Being 
given  my  choice,  I  decided  to  appear  again  before  the 
Military  Committee. 

"  That  brought  the  hearing  round  to  the  nth,  the  limit 
of  my  possible  stay  in  the  city.  When  a  quorum  had  as 
sembled  General  Cutcheon  stated  the  case,  and  I  was  about 
to  begin,  when  a  member  objected.  He  was  sure  that  the  bill 
belonged  with  the  Committee  on  War  Claims.  A  second 
member  expressed  himself  as  decidedly.  A  short  discus 
sion  took  place,  the  vote  was  put,  it  was  against  me  and  I 
was  dismissed. 

I  turned  away,  having  never  had  in  my  life  a  greater 
sense  of  disappointment.  Had  I  not  known  that  the  ob 
jection  was  so  purely  technical  I  could  have  borne  the 
situation  better ;  but  to  lose  the  opportunity  for  this,  return 
home  with  my  mission  unaccomplished,  see  Miss  Carroll 
herself,  and  tell  her  that  the  effort  had  been  nipped  in  the 
bud,  it  seemed  impossible  to  submit  to  it. 

"  Mr.  Wise  of  Virginia,  the  gentleman  who  had  first  ob 
jected,  now  appeared  to  have  a  second  thought. 

II  C 


1 62  A    WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES. 

"  '  Since  the  lady  has  come  so  far,  and  in  behalf  of 
another  person,  it  seems  to  me  we  hardly  ought  to  dismiss 
her  so  summarily.' 

"  I  hastened  to  say  that  the  bill  had  had  a  similar  fate 
before,  had  passed  and  repassed  from  Military  and  War 
Claims  Committees  until  action  was  wholly  prevented. 

"  Mr.  Wise  thereupon  asked  for  a  reconsideration  of  the 
motion.  The  final  result  was  that  a  unanimous  vote  al 
lowed  me  to  present  my  appeal. 

"After  this  generous  action  I  found  the  presentation  of 
the  case  a  pleasure  rather  than  a  duty.  It  was  rather  a  con 
versation  with  liberal-minded  gentlemen.  When  they 
learned  that  President  Lincoln,  his  Secretaries,  and  Sena 
tors  and  Representatives  whose  names  are  famous  vouched 
for  Miss  Carroll's  work,  the  integrity  of  her  claim  more 
surely  revealed  itself  to  them. 

"  The  case  was  ordered  to  Mr.  Wise  for  special  consid 
eration,  which  he  cordially  promised  to  give. 

"As  I  left  the  committee-room  I  could  not  help  congrat 
ulating  myself  over  the  ill-omened  beginning,  since  it  had 
resulted  toward  a  relation  of  the  work  far  more  complete 
than  had  otherwise  been  the  case. 

"  That  day  I  saw  the  aged  invalid  for  the  first  time.  She 
is  a  most  remarkable  woman  still.  I  heard  from  her  own 
lips  the  story  I  knew  so  well,  but  rendered  more  thrilling 
than  ever  as  thus  repeated  ;  and  I  had  the  happiness  of 
telling  her  that  I  believed  her  case  was  now  in  safe  hands. 

"  Not  long  after,  through  the  unseating  of  Mr.  Wise,  of 
Virginia,  Hon.  Francis  W.  Rockwell,  of  this  State,  re- 


A    WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES.  163 

ceived  the  case  as  sub-committee.  In  view  of  this  we 
ought  to  be  even  more  hopeful,  since  his  colleagues,  Messrs. 
Hoar  and  Lodge,  have  put  forth  so  many  efforts  in  its  fur 
therance. — Boston  Sunday  Herald,  February.,  1890. 

ABBY  M.  GANNETT. 

The  Century  magazine,  which  had  been  publishing  an 
exhaustive  account  of  "  the  men  who  fought  and  planned 
our  battles,"  was  appealed  to  in  the  name  of  historical 
verity  to  give  an  account  of  Miss  Carroll's  work.  Having 
had  the  matter  under  consideration  for  more  than  a  year 
and  having  convinced  themselves  of  the  truth  of  the  claim, 
they  published,  in  August  of  1890,  an  open  letter  bringing 
the  case  to  the  attention  of  their  readers.  A  public-spirited 
lady  of  Washington  purchased  copies  and  laid  the  marked 
article  on  the  desks  of  Senators  and  Representatives,  with 
the  same  invariable  result.  But  though  Congress  disregarded 
the  matter,  not  so  the  reading  public,  and  inquiries  began 
to  be  made  for  further  information,  which  it  was  difficult  to 
furnish  for  want  of  an  easily  attainable  printed  account. 
It  was  therefore  determined  to  meet  this  demand,  and  the 
present  relation  is  the  result. 

In  consequence  of  the  petitions  continually  received, 
friendly  Senators  and  Representatives  have  again  and  again 
brought  in  bills  asking  for  $10,000,  or  even  $5,000,  for 
Miss  Carroll's  relief  (invariably  neglected). 

Such  bills,  though  very  kindly  meant,  seem  to  me  a  mis 
take.  It  is  not  a  question  of  $5,000  or  $500,000.  It  is — 
it  always  has  been — a  question  of  recognition. 


1 64  A    WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES. 

Granted  that  this  wonderful  woman  by  the  intense  labor 
of  heart  and  brain,  by  her  whole-souled  devotion  of  life 
and  fortune,  has  saved  the  national  cause — for  the  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  precious  lives  laid  down  would  have 
been  of  no  avail  had  the  plan  adopted  at  the  crisis  of  fate 
been  an  unwise  one — this  granted,  a  noble  bill  might  be 
acted  upon  by  Congress,  but  an  ignoble  one — never.  What 
ever  may  be  our  faults,  we  are  at  heart  a  proud  and  self-re 
specting  people,  and  no  paltry  bill  would  be  endured,  and 
no  bill  which  did  not  award  military  honor  for  pre-eminent 
military  services  could  meet  the  case  with  justice  and  with 
dignity. 

Although  weighed  down  with  an  immense  mass  of  obsolete 
law  and  custom,  shall  we  say  that  England  leads  the  van  in 
integrity  of  principle  and  devotion  to  human  rights?  Al 
though  the  doctrine  of  divine  right  was  exploded  long  ago, 
England  loyally  holds  to  her  Queen. 

As  long  as  it  pleases  the  English  people  to  maintain  a 
royal  line,  it  makes  no  difference  to  them  whether  its  repre 
sentative  be  a  man  or  a  woman.  England  never  had  asalic 
law.  But  America — when  a  grand  woman  comes  to  her  for 
her  deliverance  at  the  crisis  of  her  fate,  crowned  with 
heaven's  own  prerogative  of  genius,  what  America  does  for 
her  in  return  for  her  accepted  services  is  to  stamp  her  under 
foot  and  bury  her  out  of  sight,  that  her  well-earned  glory 
may  fall  by  default  upon  the  ruling  class. 

Can  America  continue  to  be  so  unjust  to  women?  Can 
it  continue  to  hold  them  down  as  a  disfranchised  class  ? 

Owing  to  continued  petitions,  Military  Committees  were 


A    WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES.  165 

appointed  during  this  last  Congress  to  investigate  Miss 
Carroll's  claim. 

I  have  not  heard  the  result,  but  again  Congress  has  ad 
journed  without  taking  action.  About  March  27  I  had  the 
opportunity  of  looking  over  the  file  which  had  just  comeback 
from  the  Senate  Committee.  First  of  all  came  a  surprising 
number  of  petitions  sent  in  during  this  past  year;  then  the 
documents  in  evidence  of  the  claim.  They  were  a  meager 
lot  compared  to  what  they  should  have  been.  In  a  case  of 
this  importance  one  would  suppose  that  a  copy  of  every  me 
morial  and  of  every  report  should  have  been  on  the  file. 
Not  at  all.  Quite  early  in  the  history  of  the  case  "  supply 
exhausted  "  was  the  answer  given  to  every  request  for  these 
documents,  and  Miss  Carroll  herself  was  unable  to  obtain 
them. 

The  reprint  of  a  few  of  the  earlier  ones  by  no  means 
represents  them,  and  owing  to  the  universal  exclusion 
from  the  Congressional  indexes  of  the  later  and  more 
important  ones,  especially  the  memorial  of  1878  and 
Bragg's  report  thereon,  much  important  evidence  was 
wanting.  Still  considering  that  all  that  has  been  printed 
by  "order  of  Congress"  is  guaranteed,  I  should  have 
thought  that  the  evidence  given  before  the  Military  Com 
mittee  of  1871  would  have  been  sufficient.  Certain  I  am 
that  if  a  woman  had  been  on  that  committee  the  matter 
would  have  assumed  more  prominence,  and  there  would 
have  been  a  research  for  the  additional  documents  that  have 
been  omitted.  It  is  the  old,  old  story  that  every  intelli 
gent  woman  is  coming  to  understand,  that  you  cannot 
leave  10  others  the  interests  of  a  disfranchised  class. 


1 66  A    WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES. 

In  looking  over  the  file  at  the  -War  Department  I  noted 
that  there  had  been  inquiries  from  committees  asking  if 
there  was  a  letter  of  Miss  Carroll's  there  of  November  30, 
1861,  and  others  mentioned,  and  the  answer  returned  was 
"  no."  It  would  be  in  place  here  to  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  they  had  once  been  on  file  there,  and  the  reason 
that  they  are  there  no  longer  is  given  in  the  memorial  of 
1878,  on  the  evidence  of  Wade,  Hunt,  and  others. 

On  April  16,  1891,  at  the  file -room  of  the  House,  I  saw 
the  file  that  had  come  back  from  the  House  Committee  of 
this  past  Congress,  whose  attention  also  had  been  called  to 
the  subject  in  consequence  of  the  many  petitions  received 
by  the  House  as  well  as  by  the  Senate.  I  counted  twenty- 
five  petitions  with  numerous  signatures,  as  well  as  some  de 
tached  letters.  An  interesting  petition  was  from  one  of  the 
Army  Posts,  signed  by  soldiers  and  by  officers,  asking  for 
award  to  their  great  co-adjutor.  I  noted  a  statement  in  one 
of  them  that  the  widow  of  one  of  the  Generals  employed 
in  carrying  out  the  Tennessee  campaign  had  been  in  receipt, 
ever  since  her  husband's  death,  of  a  pension  of  $5,000  a 
year,  while  the  great  projector  of  the  campaign  had  been  left 
neglected.  Asking  if  there  was  anything  more,  another 
bundle  of  petitions  was  handed  to  me,  each  package  con 
taining  a  paper,  with  extracts  from  the  memorials  and  re 
ports,  neatly  arranged,  giving  some  of  the  remarkable  letters 
of  Scott,  Wade,  and  Evans,  and  the  decisions  of  the  Mili 
tary  Committees  fully  endorsing  the  claim.  It  would  seem 
that  the  committees  were  appointed  to  receive  the  petitions, 
not  to  consider  evidence,  as  the  documentary  evidence  was 


A    WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES.  167 

not  here  on  the  file.  And  why  should  they  consider  it,  when 
the  case  had  been  at  the  first  examined  carefully,  tried,  and 
a  unanimous  vote  had  endorsed  the  claim,  and  succeeding 
reports,  including  the  one  mistakenly  marked  as  "  adverse," 
all  bore  witness  to  the  incontestable  nature  of  the  evidence. 
To  go  on  trying  a  case  so  established  over  and  over  for 
twenty  years  would  be  a  manifest  absurdity. 

And  thus  the  case  stands. 

In  reading  these  records  a  sorrowful  thought  must  come 
into  every  woman's  soul  as  she  recognizes  ho\v  deep  must 
have  been  the  feeling  against  women  to  prevent  Congress, 
in  all  these  years,  from  coming  to  a  fair  and  square  ac 
knowledgment  of  the  truth. 

But  a  different  spirit  is  coming  over  the  world  :  A  spirit 
of  justice,  a  spirit  of  brotherly  kindness  towards  women, 
shown  in  innumerable  ways  and  recognized  by  them  with 
gratitude  and  joy. 

The  active  men  of  to-day  were  children  when  the  Union 
was  saved.  Helpless  children,  when  Miss  Carroll,  in  the 
prime  of  her  life  and  fullness  of  her  powers,  with  clearness 
of  perception,  with  firmness  of  character,  with  the  light  of 
genius  upon  her  brow,  devoted  her  time,  her  strength,  her 
fortune,  and  her  great  social  influence  to  the  national  cause 
that  the  men  of  to-day  might  have  a  country,  proud,  pros 
perous,  and  peaceful,  to  rejoice  in  themselves  and  to  hand 
down  in  unbroken  unity  to  their  children. 

It  should  be  not  only  a  duty  but  a  blessed  privilege — 
still  possible — to  see  that  all  that  earth  can  give  to  brighten 
the  latter  days  of  our  great  benefactress  shall  be  given  her. 


1 68  A    WOUNDED    VETERAN    RETIRES. 

That  she  shall  be  crowned  with  the  undying  love  and 
gratitude  of  a  great  and  a  united  nation. 

And  let  us  remember,  too,  what  it  would  have  been  for 
our  country  if  the  noble  daughter  of  Governor  Carroll  had 
thought  it  her  duty  to  keep  out  of  politics  while  her  country 
was  perishing,  and  to  regard  the  military  movements,  upon 
which  its  life  depended,  as  something  outside  of  a  woman's 
province. 

The  nation  belongs  to  its  women  as  surely  as  it  belongs 
to  its  men.  All  that  concerns  its  welfare  concerns  them 
also,  and  nature  has  gifted  them  with  especial  attributes  of 
heart  and  intellect  to  aid  in  its  guidance  and  to  aid  in  its 
salvation. 


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